Barnes & Noble will soon open a new location at 1025 F St. NW, marking a return to downtown DC since it shuttered a downtown DC location (at 555 12th St., NW) in 2015. The bookstore chain has signed a lease for a 16,000-square-foot space in the historic Woodward & Lothrop department building, near the Metro Center station, which was most recently occupied by Zara.
Barnes & Noble’s return to downtown DC reflects its growing success and momentum. Since CEO James Daunt took over in 2019, the chain has rapidly reinvented itself by taking advantage of social media trends such as BookTok and allowing individual stores to prioritize local tastes in their offerings. Just last year, B&N returned to its original three-story Georgetown location after shuttering in 2011. Similarly, in 2023, B&N returned to The Spectrum at Reston Town Center after shutting down a location in the same shopping center back in 2013.