Been traveling to Book-A-Million for about 10 years now and It's become a big part of my life. Disregard the negative reviews your seeing about it being cluttered or unkept, it's just a very full place. Every shelf is stocked with a huge selection of novels, games, toys (alot of learning toys great for younger childred) and board games. If you're a D&D/Pathfinder player the prices are a little high but not unreasonable for some of their books, and they do have some of the harder to find items (clear dice for those of you who like your rolls fair).
There are better coffee shops out there than the one inside, but I like the charm of the little place. They're reasonable in price and the coffee and tea is really good.
The fact is, while Barns and Noble has no presence in Gastonia, Books-A-Million is here, and often busy. In a time when bookstores are shutting down this is one store I don't see going anywhere.