Barnes & Noble To Hold Upper East Side Grand Opening July 19

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Bookworms of the Upper East Side will only have to wait one more week for the highly-anticipated return of book behemoth Barnes & Noble to the neighborhood.

On July 19, the store will hold a 9 a.m. ribbon cutting at 1550 Third Ave., near East 87th Street, with writer Adriana Trigiani, author of "The Shoemaker's Wife," who will also be signing copies of her new book, "The Good Left Undone."

News of the new shop was a welcome development for fans of the written word after the previous Upper East Side Barnes & Noble a block away closed in 2020.

“We are delighted to be back in the Upper East Side," said James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble. "The customers of our 86th St. store made plain their feelings, in inimitable style, when we closed in 2020 so it is especially pleasing to restore to them their bookstore.”

According to the bookseller, this will be the first Barnes & Noble to open in Manhattan since 2007.

The shop takes over 7,000 square feet ground-floor corner retails space, formerly a Duane Reade, and showcases what the company calls a "highly-lauded bookstore design," despite that it will be a significant downsize from its previous, 55,000-square-foot, two-level store on East 86th Street,

“I am honored to be working with such a knowledgeable group of booksellers who have come together to create this beautiful new store,” said store manager Kenneth Tan. “It is a very exciting time to be a bookseller, nowhere more so than in New York City, and we look forward to welcoming both old and new customers to our new home.”

Daunt said that "it is a huge improvement over the old store to have such a beautiful and bright space. The experienced Upper East Side bookselling team under Kenneth Tan have crafted a bookstore of which to be proud.”

Barnes & Noble said in an announcement that the company is going through a growth spurt and opened more stores in just 2022 that it had in the decade prior to the pandemic.

In 2023, the bookshop expects to open 30 new stores.

Upper East Side bookworms can follow the store's Instagram account by clicking here.