Monmouth Mall Barnes & Noble Will Open Nov. 20 In Its New Rt. 35 Home

EATONTOWN, NJ — Barnes & Noble is here to stay in Eatontown.

Even though Monmouth Mall is currently in the midst of an unprecedented demolition —currently being torn down to be re-birthed as "Monmouth Square" town homes, shops and restaurants surrounding a public center green — the Barnes & Noble is not leaving the area.

Barnes & Noble closed their existing location at the mall, but will re-open in their new home (180 Rt. 35) at 9 a.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 20.

Barnes & Noble has relocated into what it calls "a beautifully newly built space a few hundred yards away, next to Macy’s." The Barnes & Noble in its new home will officially open to the public at 9 a.m. next Wednesday, with author James Murray cutting the ribbon and signing copies of his books. The bookstore will also have an updated B&N cafe.

A Whole Foods will move into the space formerly occupied by Barnes & Noble, but they are not scheduled to open there until 2026. The AMC movie theater will remain in the new Monmouth Square. So far, Macy's and Boscov's are also still slated to remain open. The Anne Vogel Family Care and Wellness Center, a two-story medical building geared towards women, moms and children, is currently open next to the Boscov's and will be an anchor of the new Monmouth Square.

Once demolition is done, construction on the apartments will start in 2025. Mall owner Kushner Companies plans to build 1,000 one- and two-bedroom apartments around a center public green, with an outdoor pool and fitness center in the middle. Rental prices have not been released, but online chatter reports $2,000 - $3,000 a month.

Kushner is tearing down the mall's entire second floor. Walking and biking trails will be built around the perimeter, and the center green will be open to the public. Kushner's plan is to return Monmouth Mall to be an open-air mall similar to the way it was in the 1960s.

Kushner Cos. was started by Charles Kushner, the father of President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Kushners are also the developers of Pier Village in Long Branch.

Barnes & Noble says it 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 strong sales in its existing stores and has been opening many new stores after more than 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 60 new bookstores in 2024.

“We are very pleased to be opening this beautiful new bookstore here in Eatontown,” said James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble. “The Eatontown booksellers have gone above and beyond to have this new space ready so soon after closing the previous location, and just in time for the height of holiday shopping.”

Goodbye, Monmouth Mall As We Knew It: Demolition Underway (March 2024)