Barnes & Noble returns to Costa Mesa, invites readers to wander new 27,000 square-foot location
- Share via
Daniella Dauncey can trace her love of reading back to afternoons spent browsing through sci-fi novels and horror films with her dad, David Dauncey, at the Barnes & Noble Booksellers in the Metro Pointe Mall. After it closed nearly 10 years ago, the Costa Mesa residents had to travel to locations in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach to continue digging through stacks of new releases together.
“We were really sad when Metro Point closed down a while back. That was when a kid; now I’m 21,” Daniella Dauncey said.
They were among the first to welcome the brand back to Costa Mesa at the grand opening of its new 27,000 square-foot store on the third floor of South Coast Plaza on Wednesday.
Hundreds came out to celebrate the occasion, including both locals and store regulars from Orange, Aliso Viejo and Long Beach, the new store’s assistant manager, Hailey Chappell, said.
“You can always find your reads online, but nothing beats actually wandering in, looking at a book and feeling it and seeing if it feels right,” Chappell said Wednesday. “And that’s what I love about our layout. We really encourage people to explore.”
The expansive store features a labyrinth of shelves with mostly front-facing books for easier browsing, all dotted by nooks with cozy seating for readers to sample whatever titles catch their eye. The space also includes an open and well-lit cafe with a balcony overlooking the city.
Local resident Mia Haddadi said Barnes & Noble stores have always been a spot for her to unwind while out shopping with her children. The stores always have plenty of curiosities to keep kids young and old entertained, and have been places that facilitate chance encounters between people with shared interests.
“It allows for a lot of dialogue around us with other people who are really interested in reading,” Haddadi said while carrying a stack of new releases in both arms. “... You come in and you don’t realize that you’re going to buy anything or be here for a long time. But before you know it you’ve been here for two hours.”
Relationships between patrons and staff help each Barnes & Noble store tailor their offerings to their communities, Chappell said. The people who work at each store take active role in curating what each location features and keeps in stock, and those decisions are largely based on the feedback of local readers.
“It’s really fun to see what moves, what ebbs, what flows, what changes here … It’s exciting to see what readers are excited for,” Chappell said.
