Justice and Xola Murphy and their mom Zuri Tau were devastated when the old Barnes & Noble in Edgewood closed in 2022. They were more than excited to see the opening of the new location next to their local Kroger. (Marlon Hyde/WABE)
A new Barnes & Noble in Edgewood is the latest example of the growing demand for physical places to read and buy books. The store returns to the market where the previous Edgewood Barnes & Noble closed in 2022.
“Y’all ready? Edgewood is back!” said an excited LaNisha Bates as she welcomed her set of customers. She’s the new store’s manager and worked at the old location.
“So, just being able to come back to service the community that we love being in so much, it’s just amazing, and the response that the community is giving us is so embracing. We’re just excited to be here,” said Bates.
After the ceremonial ribbon was cut, a massive line of customers flooded the store. Like 19-year-old Justice Murphy, who was devastated to lose her local bookstore in 2022.
“When it closed down, it felt so sad because it felt like I was losing part of my childhood as well as the physical store,” said Murphy.
Murphy’s little sister, Xola, remembers the moment vividly. “It was so bad, like, did I cry? I feel like we cried,” said Murphy.
Losing the old store led Murphy to find other ways to buy books.
“I kind of have a thing where it’s important to me to support independent bookstores as well, like now that this Barnes & Noble is open, I’m gonna be really vigilant about making sure that the ones around it don’t close,” said Murphy.
With 15,000 square feet of books, games, and magazines, this new Barnes & Noble is nestled in the Edgewood Retail District, in the former Office Depot space, next to Kroger. Wanjiko Mwangi lives in the neighborhood.
“There’s nothing like this over here currently. I know we talk a lot about third spaces. It’s nice for people to just have a place to come, loaf, read, buy things, but also just exist in the neighborhood. Especially like inside, and I love any time I come somewhere, and it’s intergenerational, and people are happy and jovial,” said Mwangi.
With 15,000 square feet of books, games, and magazines, this new Barnes & Noble is nestled in the Edgewood Retail District, in the former Office Depot space, next to Kroger. (Marlon Hyde/WABE)
The rise of online retailers caused businesses like Barnes & Noble to decline. But the desire for communal spaces is fueling a revival of independent and big-box bookstores.
Things have changed, too. Store managers can now design their own layouts.
“That is one thing that was important to me coming back to the community was ensuring that we had Black voice represented in the areas throughout the store,” said Bates. “We’re going to continue to bring Black voices inside the buildings. So that’s exciting for us.”
Charise Renee holding her favorite novel, “Razorblade Tears.” (Marlon Hyde/WABE)
Atlanta native and Spelman grad Tayari Jones helped cut the ribbon and signed copies of her latest novel, “Kin.”
“It’s a recommitment to the community, it’s a recommitment to literacy. You know, it’s the recommitment to the values that we have held dear for a long time,” said Jones.
She says this is her neighborhood store. “When they closed down the other Barnes & Noble and put up a Marshalls, it felt like, you know, they paved paradise and put a parking lot,” said Jones.
She says it’s been 25 years since she published her first book, and it’s an honor to meet local supporters. Jones says this shows that people want bookstores.
Atlanta native and Spelman grad Tayari Jones helped cut the ribbon and signed copies of her book “Kin.” (Marlon Hyde/WABE)
“This is a move in not only the right direction, it is a move in the only direction that will take us back to where we were in terms of being a community, in terms of being a literate society, in terms of having empathy, all of the things that’s happening right here, not only in this bookstore, but in all bookstores,” said Jones.
Xola Murphy stares at the wall of fiction novels all written by Black authors. “It makes me feel honored. I really like how we get our representation and stuff,” said Murphy
Her mom, Zuri Tau, agrees. “This is a city with deep Black history. So it’s important that we lift up not only the historical voices, but the new Black voices that are existing right here at home,” said Tau.
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Gene Kansas, author of “Civil Sights: Sweet Auburn, a Journey through Atlanta’s National Treasure,” also signed books in the store.
“There’s incredible energy here. It shows that the community comes out to support literature. I think that is a huge, important, and impactful thing,” said Kansas.
Getty Hilaire, a kindergarten teacher at T.H. Slater Elementary School, says Atlanta needs more places like these.
“Especially where we have low literacy scores, especially on the Southside. We really need events like this. We really need stores like this to really get children into reading again and get adults to read again,” said Hilaire.
Barnes & Noble plans to open two more stores in Toco Hills and Peachtree Corners before the end of the year, while closing another in Cumberland.
