The bookseller returns to the community with a larger-than-ever space and newer design concept, opening in the La Jolla Village Square shopping center.
Nooks and crannies bursting with books, a new Barnes & Noble store opened Oct 8 in La Jolla Village Square, 8657 Villa La Jolla Dr, between World Market and PetSmart.
“We can’t tell you how thrilled we are to be back here in La Jolla,” store manager and bookseller Andrea Lew said at the store’s opening at precisely 10 am, where a long line of book lovers waited.
The new store, selling books, toys, games, magazines, gift items and more, is about 14,000 square feet, a refitting that “won’t look like any other Barnes & Noble” in San Diego, Lew told lajolla.ca.
The prototype design featuring blonde shelves and new lighting concepts is “more of a discovery theme,” she said, replacing the older open concept with interactive “rooms where you travel and you discover.”
“This is the good news we need,” local children’s author and illustrator Pam Fong said ahead of cutting the ribbon to open the store.
“Whatever you’re searching for: understanding, some inspiration, some creativity, some history, some understanding [or] compassion, you’re going to find it here in a bookstore,” Fong said.
Fong stayed the morning, signing copies of her books, including her most recent release “The Little Cloud.”
Barnes & Noble returned to the area after the 2022 closure of its Bookstar store in the Costa Verde Center.
