Barnes & Noble will return to the downtown Seattle core six years after it closed its Pacific Place location.
SEATTLE — Barnes & Noble is set to open a downtown Seattle location Wednesday.
The 17,000-square-foot bookstore at 520 Pike Street will open at 9 a.m.
Opening day celebrations include a ribbon cutting and author event with fantasy novelist Robin Hobb. The bestselling author will sign copies of her new book, “Blood of Dragons: Volume Four of the Rain Wilds Chronicles,” along with her other novels.
Customers will also receive discounts on books, reading devices and movies as part of the grand opening event.
The bookstore will return to the downtown core six years after it shuttered its location in Pacific Place in what Downtown Seattle Association President Jon Scholes previously called a “strong signal” of an improving business environment downtown.
In April, Scholes pointed to what he described as improving fundamentals downtown, including a record residential population, visitor numbers exceeding 2019 levels and a growing return of local foot traffic.
The space was previously home to The North Face, which closed its doors in May 2024, joining a string of high-profile departures that included Macy’s flagship in 2019 and Nike in 2023, according to the DSA.
The new Pike Street location will join two existing Seattle locations: one at Northgate Station and another at University Book Store in the University District, which took over general books sales from the University Book Store last summer.
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