Barnes & Noble is coming back to the Upper East Side in a big way after a two year absence, announcing plans on Tuesday to open a new bookstore — with a much smaller footprint — just over a block away from the original location along the busy East 86th Street corridor.
The bookseller closed their massive underground store back in the Summer of 2020 — after 12 years serving the neighborhood from that location — as the city began to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic ‘pause’ that kept most businesses shut down for several months.
ALSO READ | Van Leeuwen’s Second UES Ice Cream Shop Opens Wednesday
“It is very good news to bring our bookstore back to the Upper East Side,” said Barnes & Noble Chief Executive Officer James Daunt.
“It was very sad to close in the depths of the pandemic and especially pleasing now to reopen with one that is so dramatically more attractive,” he added.
The new bookstore from Barnes & Noble is set to take over the vacant retail space on the ground floor of the Agora Building — located at 1550 Third Avenue, between East 87th and 88th Streets — which has been vacant since Duane Reade closed its pharmacy at the location back in 2020.
ALSO READ | Sarah Jessica Parker Returns to the UES to Film Second Season of ‘And Just Like That’
“We take over a beautiful building with an old-style character with which it is a pleasure to work in creating the new bookstore,” Daunt explained, “Bookselling is enjoying a wonderful renaissance, nowhere more so than in NYC.”
At nearly 8,000 square feet, the new bookstore will be a fraction of the sprawling, 55,000 thousand square foot Barnes & Noble location that closed two years ago — which has since been replaced by a Target store.
One thing you will not find inside the bookstore is a Starbucks location. That is probably a good thing considering the mega chain has a coffee shop directly across the street.
Barnes & Noble says it expects to open the new UES bookstore in the Spring of 2023.
For updates around the clock, follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
What a wonderful decision for B&N to return to the UES. We must do everything possible to support all of our bookstores on the UES.
This makes me so incredibly happy. It was such a shame when the big B&N closed on E86th Street.
100%!