Tucson is getting a brand-new Barnes & Noble next week, and this one is big — more than 16,000 square feet of books, toys, vinyl and a cafe moving into a former Joann Fabrics space on the city's north side. The store opens its doors at 9 a.m. Mountain time on Wednesday, October 7, bringing a fresh, larger-format bookstore experience to a stretch of Oracle Road that's seen its share of retail turnover.
The new location sits at 4380 N. Oracle Road, Suite 150, inside the Oracle Wetmore Shopping Center, according to a Barnes & Noble press release. The company says the store is over 16,000 square feet and will feature a new design and layout, as well as a cafe, as reported by KGUN9. Shoppers can expect the usual Barnes & Noble mix of books alongside toys, games, vinyl, DVDs, magazines, greeting cards and stationery.
As first reported by the Arizona Daily Star, the grand opening will include a ribbon-cutting from author Kathleen Glasgow, who will also sign copies of her book The Glass Girl. The new store will be run by Bret Christopherson, who has worked for Barnes & Noble for 21 years. He said every bookstore opening creates a new community of people drawn together by shared interests.
A Fourth Barnes & Noble for Tucson
With the Oracle Road opening, Barnes & Noble will have four stores in the city, including a smaller location inside Tucson Mall. The new store joins two other standalone Barnes & Noble locations and a number of independent new and used bookstores spread across Tucson, the station notes.
James Daunt, Barnes & Noble's CEO, said the company is pleased to add to its footprint in the city. “We are delighted to be complementing our presence in the city with this beautiful new bookstore,” Daunt said, per the company's announcement.
Part of a Bigger National Push
Tucson's new store is one piece of a much larger expansion. Barnes & Noble plans to open 60 stores across the country this year, the station reports, and the company has already opened about 28 stores across 15 states and Washington, D.C., since the start of 2026, according to USA Today.
Sources differ slightly on the chain's total footprint: USA Today reported the company now operates more than 720 bookstores nationwide, while Barnes & Noble's own announcement and a separate release on WebWire put the figure at more than 725 — up from fewer than 600 as recently as 2023. Either way, it marks a dramatic reversal after more than 15 years of shrinking store counts, which Barnes & Noble has attributed to a strategy of handing control of each bookstore to its local booksellers.
Tucson's opening isn't happening in isolation. Per WebWire, the Oracle Road store is one of two Barnes & Noble locations opening on October 7, alongside a new store in San Marcos, California. The company has also been busy elsewhere this year, including a more-than-20,000-square-foot store that opened on State Street in downtown Chicago in August, according to Barnes & Noble's announcement. Barnes & Noble has not released a list of future store locations but says it plans to keep opening new stores through the end of 2026, per USA Today.
