Nope - cashiers & displays are in the main lobby, stairs on either side, staggered aisle all the way down front and the magazine section is where the screen used to be. Upstairs in the balcony is a coffee shop with seating next to the balcony rail and all sorts of little nooks & places to read. The mood there is like nowhere else; not tense or hurried in the least. I haven't been to another bookstore other than Half Price Books in years. The gorgeous wall decor on either side of the screen area and the ornate ceiling is still in place. At least for the moment. I literally almost threw up when I read this:
Barnes & Noble confirms plans to close Alabama Theater/Bookstop
Barnes & Noble has confirmed the company intends to close Houston’s Alabama Theater/Bookstop in favor of a “state of the art” facility. The confirmation came in an article by Thaddeus Herrick in today’s Wall Street Journal. A spokesperson for Weingarten Realty, which owns the Alabama, told the Journal the future of the Alabama Theater (1939) is a “challenging situation.”
According to tenants of the River Oaks Shopping Center (1937), Weingarten Realty plans to demolish the portion of the shopping center on the northeast corner of Shepherd and West Gray to construct a three-story building for the new Barnes & Noble store. The bookseller says the fate of the architectural landmarks is up to Weingarten Realty.
You CANNOT drive in any direction for ten minutes in Houston without passing either a gigantic Borders or Barnes & Noble. They're ALL "state of the art", whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean. People drive over 50 miles to visit THIS bookstore and see a movie at the River Oaks up the street when they could do the same in a mall 5 minutes from home FOR A REASON. But I guess when one is a corporate gazillionaire with a hugh jass home theater who doesn't read anything they're not mentioned in, that concept is a little difficult to wrap the old head around. <_<
I understand property rights, etc. but the biggest burr in all of our saddles is how Weingarten Realty has always given themselves airs over their "good management of architecturally-significant properties" and even has a whole section pimping the shit out of the River Oaks Center's history on the website. Kind of like selling one's daughter into prostitution, then disowning her after the money is made because she's no longer a virgin. :angry:
