“Covering three floors and 30,000 sq ft, the new Barnes & Noble has preserved the industrial fabric of this spectacular building” - PoPville

3040 M Street, NW

The official press release from Barnes & Noble:

“Barnes & Noble is thrilled to announce the opening of its Georgetown bookstore on Wednesday, November 6th. The new Barnes & Noble marks the bookseller’s return not only to Georgetown, but to the same 3-story building it occupied from 1995 to 2011 at 3040 M Street NW Washington, DC 20007.

The prestigious structure was erected in 1929,initially serving as the first of Henry Ford’s dealerships in the D.C. area. Now a protected building in Georgetown’s historic district, Barnes & Noble is pleased to reclaim its own history within so beautiful a space.

The new Barnes & Noble will officially open to the public at 10AM ET on Wednesday the 6th, with author Evan Friss cutting the ribbon and signing copies of his book The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore.

Covering three floors and 30,000 sq ft, the new Barnes & Noble has preserved the industrial fabric of this spectacular building, creating a light, airy bookstore that now becomes the flagship for the nation’s premier bookseller.

“The Georgetown Barnes & Noble is the most ambitious of all the new bookstores we, or anyone else, has opened in over 15 years,” said James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble. “The return to this historic building is a dramatic example of the ongoing revival of brick-and-mortar bookstores.”

Barnes & Noble is enjoying a period of tremendous growth as the strategy to hand control of each bookstore to its local booksellers has proven so successful. The bookseller is experiencing strong sales in its existing stores and has been opening many new stores after more than 15 years of declining store numbers. In 2023, Barnes & Noble opened more new bookstores in a single year than it had in the whole decade from 2009 to 2019. The bookseller expects to open over 60 new bookstores in 2024.

The Georgetown location is one of thirteen new Barnes & Noble bookstores set to open in November, alongside new locations in NY, FL, UT, NH, IN, UT, KS, CA, NJ and WA. Each grand opening has drawn enthusiastic crowds that wrap around the building, filling the store as the ribbon is cut.

“Opening a new store is fun and fascinating to be apart of,” said Store Manager Elisabeth Swift, Barnes & Noble bookseller of over30 years. “We are very excited to bring back Barnes & Noble to Washington, D.C., and the event is further sweetened by returning to our old stomping grounds.”