Columbia-area Barnes & Noble store to move out of longtime mall spot. Here’s where it’s going
A national bookstore that has been part of Richland Mall for more than a quarter-century plans to move to a new location in Columbia. The move comes as developers are in the nascent stages of a years-long, $100 million overhaul of the Richland Mall property.
Barnes & Noble senior director of store planning and design Janine Flanigan confirmed Thursday morning that the Richland Mall store, located at 3400 Forest Drive in Forest Acres, will close in January or February 2024, and the store will move to the Shoppes at Woodhill shopping center at at 6090 Garners Ferry Road.
Flanigan said the Garners Ferry shop would likely open a couple weeks after the Richland Mall location closes. She said Barnes & Noble would stay at the mall location until construction and preparation is complete at the Garners Ferry spot, then make the move.
The Barnes & Noble will be moving into a space that formerly was occupied by a Bed, Bath and Beyond. The Shoppes at Woodhill shopping center on Garners Ferry is anchored by a Target store and has several other businesses.
Flanigan said the Richland Mall Barnes & Noble has been open since 1997. Outside of the University of South Carolina campus bookstore, the Richland Mall store is the only other Barnes & Noble in the Midlands. While Flanigan admits it is bittersweet for the company to leave that site, she said Barnes & Noble is excited to be moving into a new space in Columbia. She said the store will have a fresh look.
“We have a brand new design,” Flanigan said. “If you’ve been in our stores, you know the furniture is the dark wood, and there’s the green carpet. It’s been typically that tone. Our new design is very different. It’s a light-colored wood, which we call Victorian lace. It will be very bright, with high ceilings.
“And we will organize the fixtures differently, creating these really fantastic book rooms. It just really invites someone in to explore each of the different genres and sections.”
Like the store in Richland Mall, Flanigan said the coming Garners Ferry Road Barnes & Noble will also have a cafe that serves Starbucks coffee.
Barnes & Noble’s announcement that it is moving comes just one day after department store Belk confirmed it is closing its location in the Richland Mall in September. Those are the last two national retailers left in the mall in its current form.
However, there is a plan moving forward that looks to breathe new life into the sprawling mall site.
The mall property had been owned by Century Capital LLC and Forest Holdings LLC. However, in January, Augusta development company Southeastern officially purchased the property. It has pledged to overhaul the 32-acre site with a more than $100 million plan that is set to include a 100,000-square-foot grocery store, more than 500 apartments, a public park, a brewery or taproom and more.
City officials have said the coming redevelopment of the mall site will be the largest single economic development investment in Forest Acres in nearly four decades. The redevelopment of the mall site will be a years-long process. The bulk of the current mall building ultimately will be demolished to make way for the overhaul.
Southeastern is no stranger to major developments. The company has numerous retail, residential, hospitality and other business developments in its portfolio, with projects across the South. Among its developments is the mixed-use Shelter Cove Towne Centre in Hilton Head.
