TheBluesMan
Moderator Emeritus
No, not *that* kind of magazine, the paper kind...
Last week, I stopped at the local mall's Waldenbooks store. I went in to browse the firearms related magazines. (aka gunrags) I saw Playboy, Penthouse, High Times, Advocate, Tattoo and other interesting titles, but not one gun magazine. I asked the sales clerk where I could find Guns & Ammo. She replied that they didn't carry it. I inquired about firearms related magazines in general and learned from her that Walden's hasn't carried any gun magazines since she had worked there. Interesting eh?
I decided to find out why, so I emailed Waldenbooks' customer service department. It took them more than a week to get back to me. Of course I sent this email every single day to be sure they couldn't ignore me.
Here is my letter and their response:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>To: waldenstoresccare@bordersgroupinc.com
From: David Miller <david-j-miller@usa.net>
Date: March 23, 2000
Re: Magazine Selection
Hello,
I was in a Walden Books store today at Summit Mall in Akron, Ohio. I went in to find the latest issue of Guns & Ammo. When I did not see it, I asked the sales clerk if they carried the magazine. She responded that they did not carry any firearms related magazines for as long as she had worked there. I thanked her for her assistance and left the store.
Could you please tell me what Walden's policy is on which magazine titles your stores carry?
Is it up to each individual store owner/manager, or are your stores all "company run" under a set policy?
Thank you,
David Miller
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
To: David Miller <david-j-miller@usa.net>
From: waldenstoresccare@bordersgroupinc.com
Date: March 30, 2000
Re: Waldenbooks Magazine Selection
Dear Mr. Miller:
Thank you for bringing your experience with our Summit Mall store to our attention. I apologize for the delayed nature of our response to you.
We believe that quality customer service is of utmost importance, and appreciate knowing when we are not living up to our customers' expectations so that we may review the situation.
In relation to your question regarding Gun magazines, we do not have a corporate policy against selling gun magazines. In fact, we sell thousands (if not millions) nationwide. We have a selection of magazine "core" titles that are carried in all of our stores, and several other titles that stores may order. It appears that there may not have been sufficient demand in this particular store to warrant carrying gun magazines. Our stores do have the ability to try ordering a magazine, at least on a test-basis. I would encourage you to contact the store manager, Maureen. The store should be able to order Guns & Ammo (distributed by IPD), Shotgun News or Gun World (both distributed by Ingram). I would also encourage you to bring a copy of this Email with you to the store, so that Maureen can more easily be of assistance to you.
Thank you for your interest in Waldenbooks.
Sincerely,
-Peter
Walden Customer Care[/quote]
I did a search on TFL to see if this fact had been discussed before and found only a brief mention in a thread entitled The Pornographying of Firearms. It was noted by TFL member Brainiac that the Walden store at his local mall in Texas didn't carry any firearms related magazines. Apparently, Waldenbooks used to be owned by... (ready?) Kmart. They bought Walden in 1984, and... <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>In 1994...Kmart combined the Walden Book Company with Borders book shops, another of its subsidiaries, to form the holding company known as the Borders-Walden Group. In November of that year, ...the holding Group was renamed Borders Group, Inc. (BGI). BGI includes Borders and Waldenbooks. While the companies operate as separate units, the Group is designed to minimize overhead and enhance the core strengths of each business.[/quote]
Here's their homepage where I found the above quote.
Well folks, I guess it could be worse. At least there's no corporate policy against gun magazines. It makes me wonder, though, if the "no gunrags" thing is a carryover from the Kmart days on a local level. I'll be going back to Waldenbooks tomorrow and talking to Maureen. I'll see if I can get them to carry Shotgun News, then post my results here.
BTW, I picked up the May issue of G&A yesterday at my local Borders store. They have quite a good selection of firearms related magazines and books.
------------------
RKBA!
"The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security"
Ohio Constitution, Article I, Section 4 Concealed Carry is illegal in Ohio.
Ohioans for Concealed Carry Website
[This message has been edited by TheBluesMan (edited March 30, 2000).]
Last week, I stopped at the local mall's Waldenbooks store. I went in to browse the firearms related magazines. (aka gunrags) I saw Playboy, Penthouse, High Times, Advocate, Tattoo and other interesting titles, but not one gun magazine. I asked the sales clerk where I could find Guns & Ammo. She replied that they didn't carry it. I inquired about firearms related magazines in general and learned from her that Walden's hasn't carried any gun magazines since she had worked there. Interesting eh?
I decided to find out why, so I emailed Waldenbooks' customer service department. It took them more than a week to get back to me. Of course I sent this email every single day to be sure they couldn't ignore me.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>To: waldenstoresccare@bordersgroupinc.com
From: David Miller <david-j-miller@usa.net>
Date: March 23, 2000
Re: Magazine Selection
Hello,
I was in a Walden Books store today at Summit Mall in Akron, Ohio. I went in to find the latest issue of Guns & Ammo. When I did not see it, I asked the sales clerk if they carried the magazine. She responded that they did not carry any firearms related magazines for as long as she had worked there. I thanked her for her assistance and left the store.
Could you please tell me what Walden's policy is on which magazine titles your stores carry?
Is it up to each individual store owner/manager, or are your stores all "company run" under a set policy?
Thank you,
David Miller
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
To: David Miller <david-j-miller@usa.net>
From: waldenstoresccare@bordersgroupinc.com
Date: March 30, 2000
Re: Waldenbooks Magazine Selection
Dear Mr. Miller:
Thank you for bringing your experience with our Summit Mall store to our attention. I apologize for the delayed nature of our response to you.
We believe that quality customer service is of utmost importance, and appreciate knowing when we are not living up to our customers' expectations so that we may review the situation.
In relation to your question regarding Gun magazines, we do not have a corporate policy against selling gun magazines. In fact, we sell thousands (if not millions) nationwide. We have a selection of magazine "core" titles that are carried in all of our stores, and several other titles that stores may order. It appears that there may not have been sufficient demand in this particular store to warrant carrying gun magazines. Our stores do have the ability to try ordering a magazine, at least on a test-basis. I would encourage you to contact the store manager, Maureen. The store should be able to order Guns & Ammo (distributed by IPD), Shotgun News or Gun World (both distributed by Ingram). I would also encourage you to bring a copy of this Email with you to the store, so that Maureen can more easily be of assistance to you.
Thank you for your interest in Waldenbooks.
Sincerely,
-Peter
Walden Customer Care[/quote]
I did a search on TFL to see if this fact had been discussed before and found only a brief mention in a thread entitled The Pornographying of Firearms. It was noted by TFL member Brainiac that the Walden store at his local mall in Texas didn't carry any firearms related magazines. Apparently, Waldenbooks used to be owned by... (ready?) Kmart. They bought Walden in 1984, and... <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>In 1994...Kmart combined the Walden Book Company with Borders book shops, another of its subsidiaries, to form the holding company known as the Borders-Walden Group. In November of that year, ...the holding Group was renamed Borders Group, Inc. (BGI). BGI includes Borders and Waldenbooks. While the companies operate as separate units, the Group is designed to minimize overhead and enhance the core strengths of each business.[/quote]
Here's their homepage where I found the above quote.
Well folks, I guess it could be worse. At least there's no corporate policy against gun magazines. It makes me wonder, though, if the "no gunrags" thing is a carryover from the Kmart days on a local level. I'll be going back to Waldenbooks tomorrow and talking to Maureen. I'll see if I can get them to carry Shotgun News, then post my results here.
BTW, I picked up the May issue of G&A yesterday at my local Borders store. They have quite a good selection of firearms related magazines and books.
------------------
RKBA!
"The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security"
Ohio Constitution, Article I, Section 4 Concealed Carry is illegal in Ohio.
Ohioans for Concealed Carry Website
[This message has been edited by TheBluesMan (edited March 30, 2000).]
. Then again, I'm kinda surprised that they don't also sell ammunition and hi-cap mags seeing as just about everyone else does around here.