Our local B&N does book readings for kids a couple times a week. I imagine most do. This drives a lot of kids & parents in. The kids play with a train & do arts & crafts afterwards. Everyone gets a coupon for Starbucks & they typically either have a treat or buy a book before they leave.

In a lot of ways B&N is like an additional public library where you can buy the books & games or just browse. I think that's what makes it different than Amazon. I also think that's their closer competition.