Concord Mall Barnes & Noble moving to Concord Square ‘prototype store’ this July


Barnes & Noble (B&N) will apparently introduce its new “prototype” store in Delaware this July when it closes its Concord Mall location and moves less than a mile away to about half the space in Concord Square Shopping Center.

The new location is in space that once housed now-defunct bookseller Borders.

A B&N spokesman would only say that the Concord Mall store will close July 2 and reopen the next day in Concord Square. He declined comment on the format of the store until closer to the opening.

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But in response to questions from the Delaware Business Times, Capano Management, which owns and leases Concord Square, said “the new Barnes & Noble site will be updated to follow the stylish redesign of the bookstore chain’s recent retail prototype locations.” With a more ergonomically sensitive layout, the “new look” is consumer-targeted to focus primarily on books and a curated assortment of non-book items. Featuring a more urban minimalist setting, the Concord Square store will showcase an open floor plan, modern lighting and furniture, and the ever-popular café.”

This description is consistent with B&N’s 10th prototype store, which opened March 27 in Rochester Hills, Michigan. That store was described by an industry publication as “about half to a third the size of B&N’s big-box bookstores, the 14,000-square-foot store will feature a more spacious design with lower bookshelves, more cover-out book displays, and plenty of non-book merchandise such as bottled water, vinyl records, notebooks, board games, and Lego sets.

Madison Rogers of Capano Management handled the lease negotiations.


A more detailed version of this story will appear in the April 2, 2019, issue of the Delaware Business Times, which should arrive in your mailbox this weekend.

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