Let me preface this review by saying this is not a bad B&N. However, let me also make it very clear in sentence number 2 of this review that this is not a good B&N either.
In a state like Arizona where commercial retail space is far cheaper than B&N locations in coastal towns like San Diego and San Francisco, or New York City in the east coast, this B&N location is pathetically small. Which confuses me, this is the TEMPE MARKETPLACE, a sizeable shopping center. Why isn't this B&N bigger? It's in a college town too.
Compounding the small store size, is an overpacked place. At first I thought it was just the time of day I was there, but I spoke to some surrounding customers around my tiny 3 feet circular table and most of them pretty much alluded to the notion that this B&N is just packed with people who just want to grab coffee from the in-store Starbucks and then walk around the bookstore like it's some amusement park or museum.
In short, too many people, too cramped, it was so cramped I couldn't even get help from a B&N associate, and baristas were not entirely friendly. In their defense, they weren't rude either, it's just that I sensed massive burnout on their part from probably serving way too many customers. In the hour time I was there, the line of customers getting Starbucks coffee never ended.
Now, for the actual books. Everything is cramped at this location, aisles are labeled appropriately but stock levels are low because, well, the size of the B&N is small. So for a bookstore, this does not lend well to the image of this store's inventory.
Plus side, wifi here is actually decent, considering there were more than 10 users connected. They must have a really good wifi access point or several repeating access points.