Barnes & Noble Opens New Store in Columbia

Author B.B. Alston to Host Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony and Book Signing at the Grand Opening at 9AM on Wednesday, March 6^th, 2024

Columbia, SC – February 28, 2024 – Barnes & Noble is thrilled to announce the opening of its new Columbia bookstore on Wednesday, March 6^th. The new Barnes & Noble is located in The Shoppes at Woodhill (6090 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, SC 29209) near Target, between World Market and Party City.

The bookstore will officially open to the public at 9AM EST on Wednesday the 6^th, with author B.B. Alston cutting the ribbon and signing copies of his books. The new location showcases the highly lauded bookstore design seen in the most recent Barnes & Noble store openings, housing all the best books, toys, games and gifts that customers have come to expect from the nation’s premier bookseller. The new bookstore will also feature a B&N Café.

“Barnes & Noble returns to Columbia after the shortest of departures when Richland Mall closed for demolition,” said James Daunt, CEO, Barnes & Noble. “We are especially pleased to retain a brick-and-mortar bookstore in a community when, for the last twenty years, closure was almost certain to mean its permanent loss. Better still, we now open very beautiful bookstores and the new Columbia Barnes & Noble is both stunning and expansive.”

Barnes & Noble is enjoying a period of tremendous growth as the strategy to hand control of each bookstore to its local booksellers has proven so successful. The bookseller is experiencing exceptionally strong sales in its existing stores and has been opening many new stores after over 15 years of declining store numbers. In 2023, Barnes & Noble opened more new bookstores in a single year than it had in the whole decade from 2009 to 2019. The bookseller expects to open over 50 new bookstores in 2024.

The Columbia location is one of two new Barnes & Noble bookstores to open on March 6th, alongside a new location in Victor, NY. Two more new Barnes & Noble bookstores are due to open their doors in March, in Gainesville, FL, and Meriden, CT. Each grand opening has drawn enthusiastic crowds that wrap around the building, filling the store as the ribbon is cut.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome our longtime customers into their brand-new Columbia Barnes & Noble,” said Store Manager John Garvin, Barnes & Noble bookseller of nine years. “Over the past 26 years we’ve developed so many close relationships with our customers, and we know they’ll be just as excited to see their favorite booksellers again, now in a beautiful new bookstore.”

Customers can discover more about upcoming events and news by following @bnsccolumbia on Facebook.