WICKER PARK — One of the world’s largest book retailers is slated to open in Wicker Park this summer, setting up shop in a historic bank building previously occupied by Walgreens.
The news of Barnes & Noble’s Chicago comeback, first reported by Crain’s, came as a surprise to several indie booksellers, who worry about the impact it could have on their small businesses.
Walgreens closed its store at the landmark Noel State Bank, 1601 N. Milwaukee Ave., in January 2023. Barnes & Noble plans to take over the prominent location along the neighborhood’s main corridor bustling with nightlife, local restaurants and entertainment venues.
“We’re either going to die quickly, or we’re going to have to pivot,” said Rebecca George, who owns beloved indie bookstore Volumes Bookcafe with her sister.
George said she was shocked when she learned of the chain retailer’s return to the city. Along with the Wicker Park store, Barnes & Noble plans to open in Lincoln Park and in suburban Northbrook and Oswego, Crain’s reported.
Volumes sits at 1373 N. Milwaukee Ave., less than a half mile from the soon-to-be Barnes & Noble. Other nearby bookstores include Myopic Books, Quimby’s Bookstore and Open Books Logan Square.
Volumes has been in the neighborhood for almost a decade, but George said she’s worried it might not be able to compete with Barnes & Noble.
“To say that I’m disappointed is an understatement. Barnes & Noble has an entire city to have a bookstore, and they choose a neighborhood with so many local bookstores,” George said. “I don’t understand how they looked at this neighborhood and thought, ‘Oh, they need books.'”
George said Volumes has had to pivot countless times over the last few years due to the pandemic and less foot traffic in the neighborhood, prioritizing online orders and decreasing business hours to stay afloat.
She hopes the community continues to support local stores like Volumes, even with a Barnes & Noble so close. Volumes is “more than a bookstore” and is embedded within the Wicker Park community, George said. The shop curates its selection based on what the neighborhood reads, and it regularly hosts events like speed dating, craft nights and story times.
Longtime Volumes customer Matt Rossi said the bookshop has become a second home since his college days. He said Volumes, like other local shops, has its own personality.
“I had just moved to the city and was looking for a place to study,” Rossi, 27, said. “It turned into a spot where I’d come to study, for a cup of coffee and to hang out.”
When George told Rossi that Barnes & Noble was opening blocks away, he said he was a little annoyed at the news, despite liking the chain store.
“I feel like Wicker Park has a really good, strong local bookstore scene, and so to hear that a big company is moving in feels very out of place with the ethos of Wicker Park,” Rossi said. “I appreciate Barnes & Noble for being an easily accessible store, but I don’t like when it comes in and is like taking out other businesses.”
Barnes & Noble’s senior director of store planning and design, Janine Flanigan, told Crain’s they “want a bookstore everywhere” and were missing the Chicago market.
“Every community, we think, needs a bookstore,” Flanigan told Crain’s.
The company “is enjoying a period of tremendous growth” and “exceptionally strong sales,” according to a January press release.
Last year, Barnes & Noble opened more new stores in one year than it did in a decade — from 2009 to 2019. The retailer expects to open over 50 new bookstores this year, according to the release.
Other neighbors say they’re excited for another bookstore in the community.
Mallory Winkler, a Wicker Park resident and self-proclaimed avid reader, said she loved going to the former Barnes & Noble location at Clybourn and Webster, which closed last March.
While Winkler still plans on supporting local spots like Volumes and Quimby’s — an indie bookstore selling zines, comics and books you won’t find elsewhere — she also thinks the new Barnes & Noble will be convenient and bring visitors to the neighborhood.
“My sister lives in Bucktown, so she’s a bit further up Milwaukee,” Winkler, 25, said. “She’s really excited for [Barnes & Noble] to come in. She doesn’t really have a lot of bookstores that are up in that area.”
Quimby’s longtime manager Liz Mason said she had conflicting feelings about Barnes & Noble coming to the neighborhood.
“More bookstores is good,” Mason said. “Maybe there’s something that that bookstore is going to carry that none of us do. I guess we’ll see.”
Still, the Barnes & Noble announcement feels “harsh” and Mason said she’s curious to see how everything pans out.
“There’s this part of me that’s a little anticipatory, I’m not going to lie about that,” Mason said. “But hopefully our clientele is interested in what we have to offer.”
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