Barnes & Noble’s Brick-and-Mortar Comeback: 60 New Stores Planned for 2026

If you’ve felt like bookstores are suddenly everywhere again… you’re not imagining it.

Barnes & Noble is continuing its aggressive retail expansion, announcing plans to open approximately 60 new stores in 2026, following what the company has described as a record-breaking growth streak in 2024 and 2025. According to reporting from Chapelboro and regional outlets, the retailer is not slowing down—if anything, it’s accelerating.

Confirmed & Highlighted 2026 Locations

Several 2026 openings are already confirmed:

  • Chapel Hill, NC – A 19,734-square-foot store at University Place (Q4 2026)

  • West Hartford, CT – A relocated 22,000-square-foot store at Westfarms Mall (mid-summer 2026)

  • Knightdale, NC – A newly planned location

  • Chicago, IL – Four new stores expected by summer 2026

Additional targeted states for expansion include Ohio, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Colorado, Washington state, California, Virginia, Georgia, and Washington, D.C.

And it’s not just future plans—stores are actively opening. Port St. Lucie, FL is slated for February 2026, following a wave of recent expansions across Texas, Washington, California, and Pennsylvania.

A Different Kind of Growth Strategy

Under CEO James Daunt, Barnes & Noble has intentionally moved away from large, uniform “cookie-cutter” layouts. Instead, the company is focusing on community-driven, smaller-format stores tailored to local readers.

That strategy appears to be working.

The company has opened more stores in 2024 and 2025 than it did in the entire preceding decade combined. Industry reports describe the momentum as “tremendous growth,” with discussions of a possible IPO in late 2026 as a result of renewed confidence in brick-and-mortar bookselling.

What This Means for Readers (and Authors)

For readers, it means more local bookstores. More curated shelves. More in-person discovery.

For authors, it signals something even bigger: physical retail is not disappearing, it’s reconfiguring. And Barnes & Noble is betting that readers still want to browse in person.

After years of headlines predicting the decline of brick-and-mortar, 2026 is shaping up to tell a very different story.

And honestly? We’re here for it.

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