Barnes & Noble, the bookstore chain with almost 600 locations across the country, reopened at Coconut Point in Estero with a new location and a new look.
Located at 8052 Mediterranean Drive, next door to Ulta Beauty and near Super Target, the nation’s newest Barnes & Noble has about 11,000 square feet of space, less than half of the 25,000 square feet it had in a nearby building now occupied by PGA Superstore.
It doesn’t have as much room as the previous location, but books are better organized, and it’s cozier, said Store Manager Sheila Berth.
“It’s brighter,” Berth said. “It’s open. It’s inviting when you come into the store. You walk in, and you see books, everywhere you go.”
With many readers shifting to buying books online, Barnes & Noble redesigned its stores to improve the in-person, brick-and-mortar buying experience, said Janine Flanigan, senior director of store planning and design.
“We’ve changed the format in general,” Flanigan said. “And we’ve gone to a new design. What we do now is create these beautiful rooms. You can walk into one room that’s cooking or another room that’s cookbooks.”
Large labels above each section inform prospective readers what to expect. Classics, mysteries & thrillers, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, horror, history, business, religion, young readers and Harry Potter were just some of the section labels in Estero.
In 2023, Barnes & Noble opened 31 new stores, Flanigan said, while refitting or redesigning 60 stores. They ranged in size from 4,000 to 35,000 square feet.
“We’re not looking to downsize or anything like that,” she said, adding that for now, the Fort Myers and Naples locations will remain the same. “Our new owners are investing. In April, we’ll do an analysis.”
Most of the new store’s books are shelved with their covers, instead of their spines, facing out toward customers. That was all part of the redesign strategy, Berth said.
“What we’re looking for is a browsing experience,” Berth said. “For you to come in and say you like a James Patterson or you like a David Baldacci, you’re going to come in, and you’re going to go to that section, and now you’re going to see all of these other books faced out at you and give you the opportunity to try a different author.”
