As the retailer builds out its store footprint, a location in the heart of the Illinois city is keeping readers in The Loop.

Barnes & Noble is ready to keep Windy City readers stocked with their favorite books, most recently with the opening of a store on State Street in Chicago’s Loop on Aug. 19.

And customers are seemingly ready, too — a line formed down the block on opening day so shoppers could get inside at 9:00 a.m. The store continued to draw large crowds throughout the day.

After 15 years of declining store numbers, Barnes & Noble is focused on expanding its footprint, including opening 60 locations last year. The company opened roughly the same number in 2024.

The retailer credits its success to handing control of each of its stores to local booksellers.

The Loop store is in a building once occupied by Old Navy, and, before that, by Borders until the closure of all of its stores in 2011. It is the fourth new bookstore Barnes & Noble has opened in the Chicagoland area in 2026, following locations in Skokie, Hyde Park and Oak Park.

The State Street location features 20,000 square feet of books, toys, puzzles, games, magazines and gifts. The selection spans two floors, with a third floor that is currently blocked. Barnes & Noble did not answer questions regarding plans for the third floor space or a projected date that it would open.

Book categories highlighted throughout the store include nonfiction, fiction, classics, poetry, history, manga, young readers and cookbooks, among others.

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