Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Work continues inside the incoming Barnes & Noble at 181 Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street.
We spotted plenty of shelving during a recent look inside the space, and the build-out appears well underway...
According to the Barnes & Noble website, the East Village location is expected to open in November.
However, employees on site told us it could be another month or two before the store is ready, raising questions about that November target.
The new outpost also has its own Instagram account.
One question we've heard from readers: Will this Barnes & Noble have a cafe? (We've heard yes and no.) We asked the company, which promised to get back to us. UPDATED: No cafe, per management.
12 comments:
Who needs a B&N cafe, when you have Rabbit Books right there? The best thing to open in the neighborhood in years.
Walked by Rabbit Books yesterday afternoon and the place was, uh, hopping--hope they've managed to build a strong business before the impact of B&N hits.
Yes ! We all love Rabbit!!
I'll always choose the small independent bookseller first.
Rabbit is a poshy internet hangout with coffee... booze and food.... something different in the EV.
Rabbit is awesome, such a great addition to the neighborhood! If anything, I think B&N might help their business? Hear me out...
Rabbit has a cozy vibe, food and drinks. It's a great place to hang out and read a book! But it's small and I don't think many people are going there for its book selection (I could be wrong about this?) B&N will likely draw large crowds of readers who will want to read those books in a cozy setting... like Rabbit.
I have bought plenty of books at B&N over the years, but I've never hung out there to read them. I have never bought a book from Rabbit, but I love to read a book there. I genuinely think this could be good for Rabbit!
I was born in 75, which is also the year of the rabbit. So, rabbit books it is :)
Yup!☝️
I actually went into Rabbit twice looking for a specific book, and they stocked both (although one was sold out that day). I also love Rabbit, but it may be useful to have a larger bookstore in the area again. I wonder if they will have a magazine section?
Poshy? Would you like a dive book store instead? And they have a cut off time for laptops.
Yes, poshy. Post gentrified, clean, shiny, pleasant, chill. As opposed to utilitarian. As opposed to a place that doesn't offer food and bev. Projecting that he would prefer a divey space is just that, projection.
Rabbit feels more like a laptop land hangout than a bookstore. Feels very shiny, post gentrification, twee spot for the social media generation rather than a serious place for books. In short, perfectly nice but no edge.
B&N the corporate behemoth, will certainly have a better selection and likely a magazine section which is desperately needed with the closure of Ink on A.
I get the impulse to favor indies, but in this post-literary climate, and especially under the leadership of James Daunt, B&N feels. more like an ally than a villain these days, to me anyway.
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