My Shopping Experience at an Indigo Bookstore

¶ … Bookstore Description of the Visit to Chapters Indigo The bookstore I visited was a Chapters Indigo store in a busy upscale shopping mall, which includes a Starbucks, a multiplex with 8 movies currently showing, high-end eateries, a designer clothing store and an ice cream shop. The chain bookstore is fairly predictable as to what it offers in terms of best sellers, budget books, and accessories. This Chapters Indigo was very similar to what one might expect with a couple of exceptions, which will be pointed out in this paper.

Chapters Indigo has a huge banner posted inside the glass at the entrance promoting the "American Girl Speciality Boutique" inside the store. Right next to that banner is a sign letting customers know how they can "Win Isabelle," who is "Girl of the Year" -- so customers are greeted not with a best-selling book, or a juicy "tell-all" book, but a boutique for young girls. The advertisements explain that only one doll will be won in each "participating location" of Chapters Indigo.

Once inside the automatic sliding doors, I was met by an attractive young women (probably eighteen years of age or less, dressed conservatively) handing out an entry form for the possibility of winning the "Girl of the Year," who is named Isabelle (although there are more than 80 dolls in the collection). She reminds us that "every girl can have a doll as unique as her…" and I accepted the form. At the front of the store there are large displays of current best-selling books.

These are hard-back books, including, "Natchez Burning," "The Goldfinch," and "Orphan Train." Boldly prominent as you enter the main portion of the store are celebrity books. The Robin Roberts book is right next to the book by Hillary Clinton ("Hard Choices"); near to those are books by retired New York Yankee closer Mariano Rivera and by Michelle Knight ("Finding Me") one of the women who was kidnapped and kept as a sex prisoner for five years in Cleveland.

These books are located in the most visible place for a customer's eyes to see as he walks in. The Canadian bookstore is not reticent to put books by American celebrities out on front; Hillary Clinton is a very popular public figure in North America, and so her book is most prominent. The lighting in the store is very classy, and the walls are wood paneling which gives the store a nice homey feel.

The bookshelves on the main floor are categorized of course: there are well-marked categories including: History, Biographies, Business & Money, Politics and Current Events, Art, Architecture & Photography, and many more. The smell in this bookstore is of coffee, which can be found upstairs (a wide staircase making it easy for two people abreast to walk up or down). The coffee shop also includes pre-made sandwiches, pastries, bagels, soups and small green salads (again, pre-made).

The young women serving coffee are friendly, helpful, and they bring the coffee to your table; there are eight tables each with four chairs; these are comfortable chairs with built-in cushions on the seat and the seat-back. There are also several booths for more privacy. The windows on the second floor look out onto the mall and beyond. Upstairs features Children's books, Cookbooks, Food & Wine, Entertainment, Health and Well Being, Romance and more.

At the end of every other aisle there is a computer with all books available at Indigo in a database; the screen explains that if.