The new Barnes & Noble opened on October sixteenth twenty twenty-four. The location was moved from 10776 Sudley Manor Dr. to 8117 Sudley Rd. Compared to the last location, this one is significantly smaller. The new store’s setup is similar, but obviously changed a lot.

Similar to the last, all the new books and employee-recommended books are on mini tables at the front. Also, the newspapers are found on the left side of the building in a little nook as soon as you walk in. This store has a maze-like setup where the shelves reach the roof of the building and everything is very compact and squeezed together. I don’t notice a vinyl record section, but seeing as it just opened, that could change or be added. Another notable feature of the new store is that there’s no coffee shop. To me, a coffee shop in a bookstore is like a staple, whether it be a Starbucks or a generic one. When I first stepped into the store, the whole setup honestly looked like the Barnes & Noble in Woodbridge near the Alamo. 

At the last store, I would primarily go directly to the Y/A section where I have found most of the books in my collection. But at this one, the selection seemed to be scarce and it could have something to do with my taste changing or that I’ve bought all the ones that interested me, but nothing seemed to catch my eye this time. But I hadn’t bought anything in the last location either. I did have luck in finding more books labeled as classics. Examples are Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, and Jane Austen novels. This section of the store was my favorite. The display was very well organized and they had a varied collection of covers. I even ended up buying Jane Eyre and The Picture of Dorian Gray. I was also a fan of the horror section which I’ve never visited before. 

A thing I was disappointed about was the children’s section of the store. Compared to the last, it lacks a sense of comfort and wonder. Instead of different colors for the walls and floors and shelves that are reminiscent of a playhouse, it’s the same as the rest of the store with very few toys or other things to play with. A commendable change though is that the selections of kids’ books are much more varied than the last. There are way more book selections than the last, probably due to the extra space that came with getting rid of the playhouse setup and bigger shelves.

In my personal opinion, this new Barnes & Noble isn’t my favorite. And that could just be my personal bias seeing as I was more familiar with the old one. Especially considering the fact that they both didn’t really have anything truly special with their layout or their setup other than the old location having a different kids’ section. The new one’s closed spaces, tight walls, and bleak white shelves are too simple for me to enjoy. And like I said the old one wasn’t very special anyway. The shelves were all black and it’s definitely a sense of nostalgia that affects my opinion. Either way Barnes & Noble remains a place I frequently visit and always find new things to read, whether they be educational or recreational.

So is it worth visiting? I say yes. So will you be visiting this bookstore? Tell us in the comments.