[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n a time when brick and mortar bookstores are becoming a thing of the past, Barnes & Noble is refreshing its approach.
The newest of more than 600 store locations, the Eastchester Barnes & Noble in the Vernon Hills Shopping Center at 680 White Plains Road—which opened its doors to the public on Nov. 23—is the first of a string of new concept stores to serve beer, wine and entrees to its customers.
The bookstore chain is calling the new stores Barnes & Noble Kitchens.
The Eastchester store is smaller than the average Barnes & Noble—22,000 square feet—but it includes a 3,000-square-foot outdoor patio with a gas-burning fire pit, a bocce court and a variety of seating options, and a 2,600-square-foot kitchen offering breakfast, appetizers and full entrees from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.
“The objective wasn’t—per se—to create a restaurant,” said Jaime Carey, president of development and the restaurant group at Barnes & Noble. “It was to create a bookstore environment that would be embraced by the community and enjoyed.”
David Deason, vice president of development, added that there are several corners around the store for customers to take a book and a drink and “slip away.”
Although the store has many sections, Kathie Bannon, the store’s manager, said it was designed to feel like a single, seamless space. Specific sections, like fiction and history, are left open rather than enclosed by bookshelves. “If you wanted to get a goblet of wine from our wine selection, you can walk and browse,” she said. “You can even bring food [around the store].”
But the menu is more similar to a short story than a novel. There are three breakfast options, three salads, four appetizers and six entrees, in addition to a small kids’ menu.
Sheamus Feeley, the chef who designed the menu, said it was written to be brief. “You could even look at the menu and make that case that, hey, this is relatively ubiquitous,” he said. “And yes, it is. The key is to be able to do a handful of things very well.”
On the reverse side of the menu are six locally sourced craft beers and more than 20 wines, which are served by the glass or by the bottle. The bar also serves a gamut of coffee drinks and teas.
The store was designed to engage customers from the moment they walk in. A 600-square-foot mural on a wall near the entrance—called the author wall—is a word search containing more than 80 authors’ names.
Barnes & Noble representatives also noted the large wording on the walls to clearly identify the different sections of the store for easy navigation. And for customers who are looking for something specific, new technology can help them find it. Search kiosks built into the store can help customers find books using an interactive map; and customers can also use the devices to text message with store employees. Employees also carry portable point-of-sale systems for easy checkout.
Deason added that the company was still playing with some of the technologies and learning how to optimize them. He told the Review that while the concept was new, if it is successful, Barnes & Noble may look to convert some of its existing stores into Barnes & Noble Kitchens. “I’m not in a hurry, because I need to know what works,” he said.
The Eastchester location is the first of four Barnes & Noble Kitchen concept stores to open nationwide. The bookseller announced similar concept plans in Edina, Minnesota; Folsom, California; and Ashburn, Virginia.
The store was formerly a Borders Booksellers before that company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011. The storefront had been vacant since.
“The community was really craving and wanting to support another bookstore,” Deason said.
Barnes & Noble gave them that, and then some.
