Barnes & Noble opens sprawling store at South Coast Plaza

Barnes & Noble opened its fifth Orange County store, a sprawling, 27,000-square-foot, single-story homage to all things books and media at South Coast Plaza.

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The store sits on the third floor of the retail center’s Macy’s Home wing, across Bear Street from South Coast Plaza proper. It takes the place of a former Sport Chalet, and before that, a Borders Books and Music.

Hundreds of people lined up Wednesday, Aug. 26 for the ribbon cutting at 10 a.m.

That flood of people soon filled the meandering aisles and sections of books, vinyl, Japanese manga, children’s books and more. On the far northwestern corner of the space, a large cafe greeted guests with coffee, tea, treats and a smaller open-air patio.

Store manager Karen Cutler, a 31-year veteran with the company, worked at the former Costa Mesa store. “Returning to Costa Mesa feels like coming home,” she said.

Years after Barnes & Noble closed myriad stores as in-store shoppers pivoted to online sellers, the company is now on an expansion kick. In Orange County, it’s opened four stores in relatively quick succession, taking over retail spaces of other shuttered stores.

The bookseller opened in 2023 in the former Aki Home at the District at Tustin Legacy shopping center. It then pivoted in Orange, moving from its former store on Main Street, which burned in 2023, to its new home in the former Van’s Skate Park at the Outlets at Orange. That store opened in December last year. Another store also opened last November at the Brea Plaza, taking the spot once leased to a Carter’s baby clothing store.

Its longtime store at Irvine’s Spectrum Center debuted with that retail center in 1995, and then expanded to two stories in 2002, and underwent a renovation in 2024.

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The South Coast store is expansive, stretching across the western edge of the Macy’s Home wing. Book selections merge with vinyl and other music media. There are large sections for young readers, especially those who favor manga (Japanese comics and graphic novels). There’s a toy section, too, with options for toddlers, teens and adults. Another section toward the back of the store features play tables for tots and a large array of children’s books.

A large center island for cashiers dominates the front. On Wednesday, the registers were fully staffed with a long line of customers stretching to the back of the store.

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In a nod to shopper enthusiasm, Barnes & Noble is opening some 60 stores this year across the United States. Its owner, Elliott Investment Management, acquired the bookseller in 2019 for $476 million. It quickly installed a new chief executive, James Daunt, who was tasked with creating a turnaround plan for the retailer.

In several recent interviews, Daunt explained that his plan for Barnes & Noble involved decentralizing book selections in favor of letting local store managers (and their customers) guide each store’s inventory selection.

“When our store in Metro Pointe Costa Mesa was forced to close nearly 10 years ago, it was a great loss to the community,” Daunt said in a statement. “Now, we return to South Coast Plaza with a one-of-a-kind store that truly reflects the caliber and culture of Costa Mesa.”

Daunt is also CEO of the British bookseller Waterstones. Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported the investment firm was courting banks to determine a path forward for an initial public offering for both Barnes & Noble and Waterstones, perhaps later this year.

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Address: 3333 Bear Street, Suite 340, Costa Mesa