COMFY CHAIR COUNTER-REVOLUTION, FINAL EDITION
Thanks to all the readers who weighed in on the comfy chair issue. Andrew McKenzie writes:
When I worked at Borders in Plano several years ago, the manager removed all the chairs at one point. Too many people complained, so he brought some of them back. But every so often, he'd remove a couple more until we had almost none left. As you know, West Plano has no homeless problem, but his theory was that people bought more and bought faster if they couldn't sit down. I protested even then, but corporate management left it to the manager.
Now I live in Seattle--the downtown Borders hasn't had any chairs for years. B&N kept theirs. I've been loyal to Borders, and they unarguably have broader selection, but I find myself frequenting B&N more often lately...
I turned out to be wrong about the Westwood Borders. They do have a few of their hard wooden benches left. I even found one right under an electrical outlet. But the place isn't what it used to be. Writing from LA, Dilan Esper corrects my memory of the breastfeeding flap of a few years back:
A minor correction on the breastfeeding incident at Borders that you blogged about. It occurred in the children's section of the Glendale Borders, not the Westwood store. Here's the link.
(By the way, since it occurred in the children's section, it was probably on one of those uncomfortable "kiddie chairs" that are often in such sections, not a comfortable couch. But I can't prove that.)