Towson Barnes & Noble to close in May
By: Rohan Mattu, Staff Writer
The Barnes & Noble on Joppa Road at Towson Circle will close its doors at the end of May in order to make way for a proposed redevelopment project in the area.
One level of the two-level store was expected to stay open, but the announcement of the full closure came in a statement by Retail Properties of America Inc. last month.
“The property is going through a major re-development, which would not allow for us to remain in place during the construction,” Barnes & Noble Vice President of Development David Deason said in a statement.
“We have enjoyed serving our customers in Towson and we look forward to continuing to serve them at the nearby Pikesville, White Marsh and Power Plant stores,” the statement continues.
The closing will affect a number of Towson students, who go there for books, a quiet place to study or just to pass time.
“That’s where I got a lot of my school supplies, I rented some books for class from there, and that’s where I buy books in general,” freshman Makya Kreamer said.
Sophomore Brendan Brady sees the closing as a blow to his own personal education.
“A lot of what school teaches you is how to learn,” Brady said. “So going to Barnes & Noble is amazing because I’m surrounded by this wealth of knowledge, and I know how to absorb it and what I want to learn.”
To sophomore Rachael Jette, the Barnes & Noble was a peaceful place she could learn.
“It was a quiet place besides the library,” Jette said. “There were these tables by a window on the top floor I used to go to to study.”
No new retail tenant has been secured for the property at this time.
Neighboring retailer Trader Joe’s will close March 16 and reopen March 17 at a new location in The Shops at Kenilworth.
Following the Towson closure, the closest Barnes & Noble locations will be located at The Avenue at White Marsh and at the Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore.