Steve D

Review of UC Santa Barbara Bookstore

The staff were very friendly and helpful -when not...

The staff were very friendly and helpful -when not misfocused on their smartphones. I stood 4 feet away from one staff for almost 20 second before they looked up, and apparently startled I was present. I observed 2 other employees either texting while walkung or otherwise reading books while shoppers were clearly needing assistance. Granted, it was a slow morning with few shoppers to assist but the focus of shop staff was not the shoppers. Two stars for staff. To get more stars, staff would have been attentive, timely and more knowledgeable about inventory.

As for inventory, the store is well stocked. Although, the merchandising layout makes sense from a "Vegas" perspective of keeping shoppers looking and retention time. But frankly, the bookstore is not a destination and thus could be streamlined for efficiency and flow. Spacing in most shopping areas felt more like a boutique (cramped), while areas in the back of the store had quite aisles with content of little interest. Hy not make those aisles small to make more room in the high traffic areas?