DOWNTOWN — Big-box bookstore Barnes & Noble will open its largest Chicago location in the Loop this summer.
The 30,000-square-foot bookstore at 150 N. State St. will take over what was previously an Old Navy store, which closed in 2023. Years before that, it was a Borders Books.
The location is not far from the Barnes & Noble College Bookstore at 1 E. Jackson Blvd. on DePaul University’s Loop campus.
The new Downtown Barnes & Noble will be a significant addition to the State Street commercial corridor, which has struggled with high vacancy rates as a result of the pandemic. It’s one of four Barnes & Noble locations opening in the Chicago area this year, said Janine Flanigan, vice president of store design for Barnes & Noble.
Another Chicago store is planned for 1524 E. 55th St. in Hyde Park, and the Westfield Old Orchard Mall location in suburban Skokie will relocate to a new, two-story space within the mall. Both are expected to open early this year. A fourth store will open in late 2026 in the former Borders at 1144 Lake St. in Oak Park.
Barnes & Noble’s new Lincoln Park location at 651 W. Diversey Parkway on May 29, 2024. Credit: Patrick Filbin/Block Club Chicago
The new stores are part of a nationwide expansion Barnes & Noble announced in 2024. Since May 2024, the chain bookseller has opened stores in Wicker Park and Lincoln Park.
Some residents have welcomed the openings while others say it is taking business away from smaller, independently-owned neighborhood bookstores.
Volumes Bookcafe, an independent bookstore and coffee shop that’s been in Wicker Park for almost 10 years, is closing this week, with the owners citing a drop in sales since Barnes & Noble opened in the neighborhood last year, just a few blocks away.
“I definitely blame it on Barnes & Noble, 100 percent, because that’s been literally the trend since the moment they opened,” Volumes co-owner Rebecca George told Block Club in November. Sales “have been down 20, 30 percent since they opened.”
George and her sister Kimberly opened Volumes in March 2016. The store and attached cafe quickly became a staple of Wicker Park’s independent bookstore scene, hosting book clubs, live events with authors and open mics, and regularly participating in the annual Indie Bookstore Day.
The sisters also ran a store for four years at 900 N. Michigan Ave., which closed in 2023.
Barnes and Noble will open its Wicker Park branch on Wednesday, Oct. 30. Credit: Quinn Myers/Block Club Chicago
Business owners in Hyde Park have also sounded an alarm as the neighborhood prepares for Barnes & Noble’s arrival, calling on neighbors to remember the many locally-owned stores in Hyde Park.
CIRCULATE, a monthly shopping series led by entrepreneur Keewa Nurullah that highlights small businesses, is hosting its February event at Call & Response Books, 1390 E. Hyde Park Blvd., in response to Barnes & Noble’s opening in late February.
Other independent bookstores in Hyde Park include Powell’s Books, 57th Street Books and the Seminary Co-Op Bookstore.
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