Barnes & Noble plans to open five new bookstores in the Chicago area, beginning this spring and continuing through the fall.
In Chicago, a new B&N store will be located at 651 West Diversey Parkway, not far from the former Clark & Diversey bookstore. The new Wicker Park Barnes & Noble will occupy the historic Noel State Bank building at 1601 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Other planned stores include a new B&N in the Prairie Market Shopping Center at 2590 US Hwy 34 in Oswego, as well as one in the Village Square of Northbrook at 45 Skokie Blvd, Northbrook, which has been without a B&N since the company's Deerfield Square location closed in December 2022.
In nearby Schererville, Ind., a new B&N bookstore is due to open next fall in the Town Square Shopping Center at 124 US Hwy 41. It will be the first bookstore to open in Schererville since the Cat's Tale, a used bookstore, closed in 2020.
"The Chicago area has suffered more bookstore closures than almost anywhere in recent years, and we are very pleased to reverse this trend so emphatically," B&N said. "We restore Barnes & Noble bookstores to four neighborhoods and, in the beautiful Noel State Bank building in Wicker Park, add a new one for us. This follows the great success of the return of Barnes & Noble to Old Orchard in November 2022, and before this with our new bookstores in Algonquin and Schaumburg."