Barnes & Noble is set to open a new store on November 16 in the Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie, Ill. Last year, B&N closed its previous outlet in the center after 27 years when the site was redeveloped.
“The closing of the old Barnes & Noble last year almost broke our email inbox as customers wrote to express their dismay,” said B&N CEO James Daunt in a statement. “It is especially pleasing therefore to reopen in Old Orchard."
The new bookstore will cover more than 20,000 sq. ft. across two floors. The first floor will include a Paper Source store, the stationery and gift retailer that B&N parent company Elliott Investment Management bought May 2021 and which Daunt now oversees. “It is very exciting for us to add a new Paper Source” to a B&N, Daunt said.
The new Old Orchard bookstore is part of B&N’s plan to mount a much more aggressive store opening campaign than the retailer had been conducting prior to Elliott acquiring B&N in fall 2019. The chain has already opened 16 new bookstores this calendar year, and has more than 30 more stores in development for 2023.
B&N will mark the opening of the new Old Orchard outlet with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the morning of November 16 with author Sara Paretsky doing the honors. Paretsky will also sign copies of Overboard, book #21 in her V. I. Warshawski series.
