Bookstore treats D&D books like Playboy

[Altalazar]

There's a local bookstore here that, for whatever reason, has moved all of its D&D books to 'behind the counter' - behind the cash register. They still have them, but now you can no longer look at them unless you go up to the register and ask for them. I can only speculate why they did this (trouble with theft by kids??) but from a practical standpoint, since this pretty much precludes browsing them, I no longer go to that bookstore for gaming books, even though they have them. (Ok, so I order from Amazon most of the time anyway, but still).

Could there be some other reason to move them back - don't want to corrupt the youth?

Anyone else see this happen? This is a major chain - Barnes and Noble - though I've not seen them do it at other BN stores. Anyone else think this is just silly and probably eliminates business?

 

[Crothian]

I've never seen it happen, but before I gave up on the store I'd talk to the manager about it.

 

[Cam Banks]

Barnes and Noble isn't really supposed to be doing that with their product. I worked there for many years before I got out of retail, and I know that unless the material is questionable it should be on the shelves in its own section near Science Fiction & Fantasy, beside the Graphic Novels. Are graphic novels also behind the counter? Is the town notably conservative? There may be some public pressure upon the store to conduct itself like this.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Wormwood]

Could there be some other reason to move them back - don't want to corrupt the youth?

It's probably a theft prevention issue.

I part-timed at Waldenbooks back in college, and I was convinced that half the gaming section left the store in backpacks.

 

[Altalazar]

Barnes and Noble isn't really supposed to be doing that with their product. I worked there for many years before I got out of retail, and I know that unless the material is questionable it should be on the shelves in its own section near Science Fiction & Fantasy, beside the Graphic Novels. Are graphic novels also behind the counter? Is the town notably conservative? There may be some public pressure upon the store to conduct itself like this.

Cheers,
Cam

No, it is just gaming books, AFAIK. There is a notice in the section where the gaming books used to be that they are now behind the counter. Are you saying this is a violation of company policy or just unusual?

 

[wingsandsword]

Well, I would imagine that there could be several reasons:

From what I hear, "shrinkage" (to use the retail jargon) is a particular problem with gaming books. If those books keep disappearing, but people also keep buying them, they could want to keep selling them, but put them behind the counter.

The small local bookstore that carried D&D books when I was a kid put them in a corner, near the sales counter, the porn was also in a corner near the counter, just the opposite corner. The way the store was laid out, both corners could be easily seen from behind the register, but were not easily visible to most customers unless you walked right up to it. From what I understood at the time, it was so the clerk could keep a sharp eye on the merchandise, and keep it out of the way of everyday customers (as it was rural Kentucky in the early 90's, they'd get gripes if some folks saw either D&D or Playboy).

Some alarmist types may have made a stink (i.e. misinformation and/or lies) to the management about D&D being satanic and to placate them they moved the books out of sight.

Why not just ask them why they put them there? You're a customer, you want to buy their merchandise, ask why it is not on the shelves like it is elsewhere (at our local B&N they are still on the shelves, as well as other chain bookstores like Waldenbooks, and local independent bookstores).

I've never heard of D&D books being kept entirely behind the counter, at most just in a place that is easier to keep an eye on.

 

[Cam Banks]

No, it is just gaming books, AFAIK. There is a notice in the section where the gaming books used to be that they are now behind the counter. Are you saying this is a violation of company policy or just unusual?

It's not standard company policy, no. In fact, Barnes & Noble typically enters into display and product marketing deals with the distributors - they often have a spinner with core rules mounted on it near the shelves, for instance. I'd ask the store manager (they're usually very approachable) why this was done and express your concern about the limited access.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[jaerdaph]

It's probably a theft prevention issue.

That would be my guess too.

Edit: My FLGS does this with the newest WotC D&D hardcover releases - they have one copy out on the shelves for display, and you can browse through that. They keep the rest of the stock behind the counter. That way only one copy gets shop worn when the book first comes out.

 

[jdrakeh]

It's probably a theft prevention issue.

That would be my guess. I've worked at Hastings and Borders in the past, both of which lost a lot of gaming books to theft (and given that gaming books cost quite a bit more than your average paperback novel, this wasn't a good deal for the store).

 

[tetsujin28]

It's 'cause of the boobies!