Barnes & Noble is expanding its presence in the Houston suburbs, taking over retail spaces previously occupied by other national chains. The bookseller has announced three new store openings in the area as part of a larger nationwide growth plan.
The company confirmed it will open locations in Spring, the Aliana community between Richmond and Sugar Land in Fort Bend County, and on Fry Road in Katy. These additions will bring Barnes & Noble’s total number of stores in the Houston area to 15.
In Aliana, Barnes & Noble has pre-leased an 18,000-square-foot building at the Market Center located at 10191 Grand Parkway. Developer Property Commerce stated that construction will begin soon, with completion expected by spring or early summer. The shopping center is almost fully leased and anchored by H-E-B and Target. The site for Barnes & Noble was designed by LA Architects and will be built by U.S. Builders.
Another location is scheduled to open in mid-November at Grand Parkway Marketplace in Spring, where it will take over a 12,500-square-foot space formerly used by Party City at 6600 Spring Stuebner Road. In Katy’s Greentree Shopping Center at 435 South Fry Road, Barnes & Noble has signed for nearly 22,000 square feet previously occupied by Party City; this store is set to debut early next year according to Ironbridge Realty.
These openings follow recent activity from the retailer including a January reopening of its renovated Town & Country Village store and a July 2024 opening in Conroe Marketplace in a space vacated by Bed Bath & Beyond.
Barnes & Noble’s renewed expansion comes after years of contraction for the chain. It reported that last year alone it opened more stores than during the entire decade between 2009 and 2019—a period that ended with its sale to hedge fund Elliott Management for $475 million cash (https://therealdeal.com/national/2019/06/07/barnes-noble-sells-to-elliott-management-for-683m-including-debt/).
By year-end, Barnes & Noble expects to have opened more than 60 new locations nationwide and plans a similar pace next year. The company also recently agreed to acquire Books Inc., an independent San Francisco Bay Area chain, for $3.25 million (https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/94299-barnes-noble-to-acquire-books-inc.html).
James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble, said last year that over recent decades the company has bought and maintained bankrupt independent regional bookstores: “Over the past couple of decades we have bought bankrupt independent regional bookstores … kept them going,” Daunt said.
