Bookstore Still Relevant, Reopening in Community

Just walk into the new Noblesville Barnes & Noble bookstore.

It’s cozy. The lighting is low. There are wall-to-wall books.

The nation’s largest bookstore chain, previously known for its large retail stores that offer a Starbuck coffee cafe, has downsized into a small-format store, noticeably visible at Wednesday morning’s ribbon cutting and reopening of the new Noblesville Barnes & Noble.

It’s a brand-new store that resides right next door to the previous Noblesville location, which closed in January for the building to be redeveloped, all within Stony Creek Marketplace.

The new store has a completely new layout at 17070 Mercantile Blvd., and will live in the former Pier 1 space.

Originally, I was sad to learn that the original Noblesville Barnes & Noble bookstore would close, but then I learned it would re-open in Noblesville. It wasn’t until recently that I learned the store would re-open right next door, in a smaller space.

A ribbon-cutting celebration on Wednesday featured New York Times bestselling author of “Somebody’s Daughter,” Ashley C. Ford, cutting the ribbon, welcoming customers to the store as well as signing copies of her memoir.

The store has many of the same offerings as the former, larger store, all tailored by booksellers for the Noblesville customers.

This store will not have a cafe or Starbucks, which is the biggest difference for customers.

“They might miss Starbucks, but I think we make up for it with our book products here, and they’re welcome to bring their own drinks in,” said Sarah Coombs, of Noblesville, Barnes & Noble’s area manager for Indiana and southern Illinois.

Coombs was among the staff greeting customers at Wednesday’s grand-opening celebration.

“I’m just so excited to be a part of this new store-opening process. I came here knowing that the store had closed but that we were going to be able to reopen it. So to be able to be a part of this process from the ground-up has just been amazing.” She said there’s been “an outpouring of support from the community.”

Inside the store, there is still seating for readers, and the store carries a curated selection of music and vinyl records.

The “light, bright and cheerful” Noblesville book store, with new bookcases and furniture, offers cozy book rooms and is among many new Barnes & Noble stores, all varying in size based on location and available space, I’m told.

The move into the new location, next door, allows Barnes & Noble to redevelop the store and create a brand-new store in the style and fashion that is being executed throughout the nation.

Moving into the smaller space, she said, “was such a great opportunity” when “we had to leave that location to architect a brand-new, beautifully presented and curated bookstore for this customer,” she said.

The smaller bookstore is definitely “cozier,” but “the breadth of titles is very similar” to the larger, more traditional store, she said. “Pretty much anything anybody would be looking for you, you can still find here, in addition to a lot of newly curated gift items.” She said a lot of the related product is going to be really great for the book lovers in everybody’s life, especially come holiday season.”

Small rooms, which have a cozy feel, offer all of the same product together to make it easy for people to shop, she said.

There are “super cozy chairs,” and tables. “We’ve got some cute places in the kids department with kids-size chairs so they can sit and play….”

She said, “Anything that anybody wants, all they would have to do is tell the staff, and we can also get it in. We really are looking to curate for this customer.”

Combs, an English literature college major who started at Barnes & Noble as a barista, has worked at a lot of Barnes & Noble bookstores, starting on the west coast, and working in Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Illinois, for the past 15 years. She has been in Noblesville since May and her job is to run 16 bookstores in Indiana and southern Illinois.

Alicia Gebert, Fishers, originally from Goshen in northern Indiana and who attended Ball State University, with a journalism and graphics major, is the store manager for nearby River Crossing and the cluster leader for the group of stores, including the Noblesville store, in southern Indiana.

Marissa Grenat, Noblesville, a Lafayette native, helped open the River Crossing store about 10 years ago, and decided to move to Noblesville, which gave her “a small-hometown feeling.” She said, “I’ve always jokingly said that Noblesville is like Stars Hollow of Indiana. (Stars Hollow is a fictional town in Connecticut featured on the television show, “Gilmore Girls.”) She said, “There never goes a moment without a festival. That was the appeal to me. We have everything that a big city has.”

Grenat said the community supported the Noblesville Barnes & Noble for almost 20 years. “For them, it’s going to be really exciting to have something fresh and new and kind of feel like that they helped us get to that peace. We wouldn’t be here without their support. And we’re awfully grateful for it. So we want to share a beautiful space with them and give ‘em the best bookstore experience we can.”

There were several local authors at the bookstore on the grand-opening day, including author Janet Hart Leonard, who was greeting guests just inside the front door promoting her book, “Where the Hart Speaks.”

Gebert said, “We have a ton of author events through the month of September.”

The list of guest authors are on the website and Facebook page. Plus, kids’ storytime returns on Saturday mornings at 11 a.m., with special guests.

What’s telling us that bookstores are still relevant? “Look around. People want that tactile book in hand. There’s something about being able to open it up and smell the pages.”

Contact Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com.