Feeling like it’s 2011 again, I went to visit the Barnes and Noble the other day. The bookstore, newly returned to its location at M and Thomas Jefferson, felt both familiar and strange. Come check it out with me!
Right off the bat, the entrance might throw you off, were you to have magically appeared here from 13 years ago. The old entrance was through a vestibule on the corner, not the mid-block entrance that the Nike Store created. But that’s really neither here nor there, in terms of the experience.
Once you enter, you see a spacious first floor that is part new releases and part gift shop:
(You also might notice that they kept the Hoya-themed gym floor that Nike installed)
I was a little surprised that they did not use this first floor for the coffee shop. But I guess putting it upstairs would force customers past the bookshelves. It does, however, leave a somewhat empty feel to the first floor (an excessive spaciousness that afflicted the Nike Store too):
The second story is where the real book-heavy sections begin:
As you may recall, in its old iteration the store had a large music section on the second floor. It also had the Starbucks there. Again this new iteration appears to have located its coffee shop even higher up as it does not appear on the second story.
Onward to the third story I expected to finally find the coffee shop. But no. There’s not one there either. They really did build the store without a coffee shop. That seems mad to me, because coffee shops and bookstores go so well together. And in Georgetown specifically, opening a coffee shop seems like a no brainer for generating foot traffic. Maybe they’re planning on adding one later?
One section I was pleased to find was the magazine section:
In the old Barnes and Noble you could find a huge variety of magazines. Moreover you could find a good selection of dry political journals that hardly anyone read. Since my girlfriend (now wife) worked for one of those journals that hardly anyone read, it was nice to at least see them on the newsstand. The selection of magazines at the new store is much smaller than the old one, which probably reflects a decline in publishing generally rather than a choice by B&N. It does have a tiny vestigial dry political journal section though!
Overall, the store certainly is a genuine full service bookstore. It’s not a sparse and token offering of books like the short-lived Amazon bookstore was or what you’ll find in airports these days. But without a cafe, I don’t know that it will restore its place as a prime “third place” like it once was. We’ll see…
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
The decision to not include a small coffee shop in the store is especially mysterious since that part of Georgetown is a bit of a coffee desert. It makes even less sense since the closest Starbucks, B&N’s presumed exclusive coffee partner, is almost a half mile away. But perhaps you are right and the cafe will be added later.
I’m also a disappointed that there is not a larger children’s reading area. The old store’s “stage” with seating all around was such a great feature for story-time.
The coffee shop is opening in the spring on the third floor I believe and I think it is another Starbucks.
I, too, was informed by staff that a coffee shop will open early next year on the third floor.
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