Alexandria is getting a second Barnes & Noble next Wednesday, as the national bookseller prepares to open a new store at the Shoppes at Foxchase on Duke Street. The grand opening is set for Nov. 4, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony running until noon, and a debut novelist from the Washington, D.C., area on hand to mark the occasion.
The new store will be located at 4515 Duke St., according to The Alexandria Brief, which first reported the Nov. 4 date and ribbon-cutting schedule. The shopping center address is confirmed by Alexandria Living Magazine, which notes the spot sits between Cava Grill and Veterinary Emergency Group. Barnes & Noble is moving into the space previously occupied by Walgreens, according to ALXnow.
Square footage estimates for the new store vary slightly depending on the source. ALXnow reports the store spans approximately 13,000 square feet, while Alexandria Living Magazine puts the figure at 13,276 square feet. Either way, it is a sizable footprint for a shopping center better known until now for quick-service dining and pet care than books.
What Will Be On the Shelves
Beyond books, the new Foxchase location will carry gifts, toys, games and puzzles, per ALXnow's reporting on the retailer's plans for the space. The store has not posted its regular operating hours as of the article's publication. For comparison, Barnes & Noble's existing Alexandria store in the Potomac Yard shopping center at 3651 Richmond Highway is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, except Sundays, when it closes at 7 p.m., according to Alexandria Living Magazine.
The Foxchase store will mark Barnes & Noble's second location in Alexandria, a milestone first flagged by Shelf Awareness back in February. The retailer has also opened a store this year at 2800 Clarendon Blvd. in Arlington, per a USA Today roundup of 2026 openings.
A Debut Novelist Gets the Honors
Bsrat Mezghebe, a debut novelist and writer from the Washington, D.C., area, is scheduled to cut the ribbon at the grand opening and discuss her novel afterward, according to the same Alexandria Brief report. Her debut novel is titled “I Hope You Find What You're Looking For,” according to a Patch calendar listing describing her as a D.C.-area author. The new Foxchase location has also listed more than a dozen author events for November, the Alexandria Brief reports.
Part of a Bigger Bookstore Boom
The Foxchase opening is one small piece of a much larger expansion story. Barnes & Noble has grown from fewer than 600 locations in 2023 to more than 700 nationwide today, according to ALXnow, and the retailer now operates more than 720 bookstores nationwide, per USA Today. The company has opened about 28 stores across 15 states and Washington, D.C., since the start of 2026, USA Today reports, as part of a stated plan to open at least 60 new stores across the country this year, according to both ALXnow and Shelf Awareness.
That pace follows several years of aggressive growth. Barnes & Noble opened more than 60 new locations in 2025, per Alexandria Living Magazine, and has opened more than 170 new bookstores nationwide since what the magazine calls its turnaround in 2020. In 2024 alone, the chain opened more new stores in a single year than it had during the entire 2009-to-2019 decade, Alexandria Living Magazine reports — a stretch widely remembered as brutal for brick-and-mortar bookselling.
For now, Alexandria shoppers have a date to circle: next Wednesday at 4515 Duke Street, with the ribbon-cutting running until noon and a hometown author on hand to send the new chapter off right.
