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Barnes & Noble

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Barnes & Noble

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Barnes & Noble Reviews

Updated May 25, 2023

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Found 6,681 of over 7K reviews
3.7
69% Recommend to a Friend
67% Approve of CEO

Found 6,680 of over 7K reviews

3.7
69%
Recommend to a Friend
67%
Approve of CEO
Barnes & Noble Chief Executive Officer James Daunt (no image)
James Daunt
685 Ratings

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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment

Pros
  • "The coworkers are great and you can have fun interacting with customers and sharing book knowledge.(in 531 reviews)
  • "The people I work with are great and really make it fun to come to work.(in 490 reviews)
  • "Flexible hours and you get to be around books all the time and usually literature enthusiast.(in 238 reviews)
  • "Good benefits are available to full(in 193 reviews)
  • "Flexible schedules are a plus(in 143 reviews)
Cons
  • "low pay and arbitrary corporate policies; lack of communication between higher ups and average employees(in 791 reviews)
  • "Bad management can be tiresome at most times(in 422 reviews)
  • "It’s still retail and people who shop can be unreasonable but managers have your back here.(in 249 reviews)
  • "I literally only got paid 25 cents above minimum wage and was overworked as a college student.(in 98 reviews)
  • "The starting pay for a bookseller is minimum wage and pay increases are very diffucult to obtain.(in 93 reviews)
Pros & Cons are excerpts from user reviews. They are not authored by Glassdoor.

Ratings by Demographics

This rating reflects the overall rating of Barnes & Noble and is not affected by filters.

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  1. 5.0
    Former Employee

    It was good

    Apr 10, 2023 - Bookseller in Enfield, CT
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Meeting new people, helping around the holidays was fulfilling.

    Cons

    Pay and benefits at the time.

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  2. 4.0
    Current Employee

    So far so good

    May 15, 2023 - Cashier 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    The employee discount is AMAZING and I love it. It varies on the type of item (cafe, book, toy, music, etc) but it's great. Also, fun environment. The management and coworkers in my locations are pretty nice people, I feel supported here.

    Cons

    Typical retail cons. My biggest complaint is inconsistent scheduling which is not specific to Barnes & Noble (i.e. being schedule for four different shifts in a two week period; PLEASE! RETAIL EMPLOYERS! Have you never heard of rotating schedules???) The next biggest complaint, is the training manual. Oh my goodness, it's the least intuitive, most disorganized set of directions I've ever seen. But they did give me A WHOLE shift to get through it so. No harm, I guess.

    Be the first to find this review helpful
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  4. 4.0
    Former Employee, more than 8 years

    Fun job overall, terrible pay

    May 24, 2023 - Bookseller/Barista in Huntsville, AL
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Great management and team members.

    Cons

    Does not pay a livable wage. Very few opportunities for upward mobility. Would have loved to stay and build a career with BN despite the pay. However, there were no real opportunities to job growth. Retail employees were not seriously considered for corporate jobs and management opportunities within the store were hard to come by.

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  5. 5.0
    Current Employee

    Alot of opportunities to learn different positions.

    May 3, 2023 - Customer Service Supervisor 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    _Different departments to learn and work in. _Teaches you multi-tasking, time management, proper customer service skills. _Money handling _Merchandising and sales focus _More positions, promotions and appreciative bonuses in development as the company thrives.

    Cons

    _Some stores have smaller teams, more strain on crew on duty. _Holidays can become hectic, overload on duties and sales focuses. _The HR department, or WE LISTEN program is not helpful if you reach out.

    Continue reading
    Be the first to find this review helpful
  6. 4.0
    Former Employee, more than 1 year

    Great job

    May 23, 2023 - Bookseller in Dallas, TX
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    I throughly enjoyed working here. I loved the kiddos and my co workers. Great environment.

    Cons

    Low pay and not enough to support myself.

    Continue reading
    Be the first to find this review helpful
  7. 4.0
    Current Employee

    Chill environment

    May 25, 2023 - Bookseller in White Plains, NY
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Knowledge of books, calm environment, flexible hours

    Cons

    lots of downtime, can get a bit boring

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  8. 5.0
    Former Employee

    Working at Barnes and Noble

    May 21, 2023 - Cashier/Barista 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    The environment was really nice and all of the people that worked there were really nice.

    Cons

    The one I worked at didn't have a lot of ingredients most of the time which made the customers unhappy.

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  9. 4.0
    Former Employee

    The Managers are great but the pay is Low

    May 24, 2023 - Bookseller 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    -Welcoming environment - Flexible schedule - Great for College Students

    Cons

    -Low pay -They are understaffed

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  10. 4.0
    Current Employee, more than 1 year

    fun but terrible pay

    May 24, 2023 - Bookseller/Barista in Frisco, TX
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    fun work environment and nice discount

    Cons

    terrible pay relative to job market

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  11. 4.0
    Former Employee, more than 1 year

    It was good for what it was

    May 21, 2023 - Sales Associate in Flint, MI
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    The team was great and dedicated

    Cons

    Do not care about personal time bc they are a corporation

    Continue reading
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Viewing 1 - 10 of 6,680 Reviews
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Barnes & Noble Reviews FAQs

Barnes & Noble has an overall rating of 3.7 out of 5, based on over 6,876 reviews left anonymously by employees. 69% of employees would recommend working at Barnes & Noble to a friend and 49% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has decreased by -1% over the last 12 months.

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Barnes & Noble employees rate their compensation and benefits as 2.9 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Barnes & Noble. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

69% of Barnes & Noble employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated Barnes & Noble 3.6 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.8 for culture and values and 3.0 for career opportunities.

According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at Barnes & Noble to be workplace, benefits, coworkers and the cons to be culture, career development, management.

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Glassdoor has 6,876 Barnes & Noble reviews submitted anonymously by Barnes & Noble employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Barnes & Noble is right for you.