Report: Barnes & Noble plans 300 new college stores

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. reportedly plans to open about 300 new stores on college and university campuses in the next five years. According to Reuters, Barnes & Noble wants to expand its college bookstore footprint from the current 696 locations to 1,000.



A Barnes & Noble executive was quoted as saying the retailer plans to offer colleges nicer, higher-grossing stores that can generate revenue from the growing textbook rental market. Barnes & Noble also plans to offer apparel and cafes in its new college stores, as well as Clinique cosmetics counters in select locations.



The retailer also plans to bring its count of 30,000-sq.-ft. academic superstores from 35 to 75, and take existing accounts from vertical leader Follet Corp., which operates about 940 college bookstores.