Barnes & Noble opens new store in area

SARASOTA — Barnes & Noble is scheduled to open a new store in Sarasota June 17.

The store, as designed by the bookseller's CEO James Daunt, will open in University Town Center with safety precautions in place as well as curbside and cafe pickup, according to a press release. Barnes & Noble University Town Center is at 200 N. Cattlemen Road, just west of the University Parkway exit of Interstate 75. 

Customers will experience distinct bookrooms for browsing by genre; more books and displays catering to the local market; young reader and toddler sections; and the latest new books and releases. Barnes & Noble has operated another store, on U.S. 41 and Bee Ridge Road, for more than 15 years. This is the company's first expansion in the market to the UTC area outside Lakewood Ranch. 

"We are so excited to finally bring a bookstore to this community in Sarasota," says Store Manager Dominique Rosenbloom in the statement. "Customers have been requesting one for decades and we are thrilled to be able to answer the call. This new store is surrounded by windows that lets in the Florida light while you browse for books, giving it a bright, warm and inviting feeling." 

Books are grouped by theme into bookrooms, with sections for fiction, biography, history, local authors, young adult and kids. There are new release hardcover fiction and non-fiction sections, and the store also has a Barnes & Noble Café with drinks and snacks.

“We are so thrilled to open a new store in an area of Sarasota that could really use a new bookshop,” says Barnes & Noble Vice President of Stores Frank Morabito in the statement. “Sarasota has been a strong market for us for decades, and we think customers in this area of the city will love having one of our new Barnes & Noble stores in the area.”

All Barnes & Noble stores in Florida are reopening following COVID-19 closures. At all stores, including the new store in Sarasota, Barnes & Noble has several safety precautions in place, including: 

• Enhanced cleaning throughout the day;
• Social distancing measures of at least six feet for customers and booksellers, including a limit to the number of customers at any one time, and in-store signage;
• Protective barriers at registers to separate customers and booksellers;
• Booksellers are always required to wear face masks;
• All booksellers have temperature checks before shifts;
• Designated spaces are marked for customers to deposit any books they have browsed, for these then to be taken out of circulation for sanitizing;
• Café is limited to to-go only service and BN Café App pickup;
• Curbside delivery for buy online, pick up in store orders

“I have a whole collection of book-themed face masks, and I can’t wait to show them off to customers,” adds Rosenbloom.

Barnes & Noble Inc. is the largest retail bookseller in the U.S. and a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The company has over 600 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states.