Barnes & Noble is preparing to start a new chapter at Tysons Corner Center.
The bookstore chain will reintroduce itself to the D.C. region’s largest mall next month, more than a year after closing its longtime, two-story outlet last May.
The new location is scheduled to open on June 18 on the mall’s first floor across from H&M, Barnes & Noble Vice President of Store Planning and Design Janine Flanigan told FFXnow.
“We are very excited to reopen the new Barnes & Noble at Tysons Corner,” Flanigan said.
At approximately 16,760 square feet with just one story, the new Barnes & Noble (1961 Chain Bridge Road, #N001L) will be noticeably smaller than its predecessor, which had anchored Tysons Corner Center’s east end since 2005.
However, Flanigan says the store will still boast “a fantastic selection” of books, vinyl music, CDs, DVDs, toys, games, and gift options, along with an updated B&N café. The design will be consistent with other recently added locations, including stores in Reston and Georgetown.
“The store is modeled [on] our new design seen in our most recent openings,” Flanigan said. “The store is designed to take one on a journey of discovery from room to room discovering different categories and the very best books from each category curated by our booksellers.”
Preparations for the grand opening in Tysons are underway, though no details about the planned events are available yet.
Barnes & Noble’s relocation was part of an overhaul of the mall’s east end. Upgrades to the common area, including new lights, a hanging art installation, and ceiling and flooring treatments, were completed this spring.
The Cheesecake Factory, which opened on Dec. 5, 2024, will be joined in the remodeled wing later this year by the entertainment venue Level 99 and in 2026 by Maggiano’s Little Italy.
Additional retail space planned
Though there’s been no sign of construction starting yet on the next phase of office and residential development, Tysons Corner Center appears to be planning a significant expansion of its retail space.
CBRE, the mall’s exclusive retail leasing agent, as of March, has begun marketing a new, freestanding “Gateway Building” to potential tenants, the Washington Business Journal reported last week. The two-story, 91,000-square-foot building will be near the Bloomingdale’s end of the mall at the Fashion Blvd entrance off Route 7 (Leesburg Pike).
According to the WBJ, a Zara spokesperson confirmed that the fashion brand will occupy 45,000 square feet in the new building — nearly twice the size of its existing store — starting in the first half of 2026.
Property owner Macerich also said during a May 12 earnings call that the Japanese clothing store Uniqlo has signed a lease for 18,000 square feet in the new building. Expanding on its current store, which is approximately 10,500 square feet and opened in 2016, the new space is expected to launch later this year, the WBJ reported.
The planned retail building was included in a revised development plan approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2023, though it was designated as “phase 5” of the mall’s development. In total, the plan envisions between 328,610 and nearly 360,000 square feet of new retail space.
In addition to the freestanding building, renderings on Tysons Corner Center’s website suggest there are plans to add exterior storefronts around the existing mall. Several restaurants with covered outdoor dining areas are shown, including one between &Pizza and Bloomingdale’s, though it’s unclear whether any of the depicted signs reflect actual future tenants or are just placeholders.
“Shoppers will soon be able to experience this fresh retail space,” the website says, teasing “enhanced dining options.”
FFXnow has reached out to a Tysons Corner Center spokesperson for comment.
Meanwhile, the mall welcomed the jewelry stores Mejuri and Gorjana earlier this spring, and the clothing stores Reformation and Altar’d States are slated to open new stores later this year. Chip City Cookies is also “coming soon” to a stall next to Auntie Anne’s.
