Oak Park officials and business owners are welcoming news of Barnes & Noble’s plans to open in the downtown district.
The national bookseller earlier this month announced plans to open four stores in the Chicago area by summertime. In addition to a location in Oak Park, Barnes & Noble will be opening stores in Hyde Park, Skokie and on State Street in Chicago.
The Oak Park store will be at 1144 Lake Street, which once housed a Marshall Field’s store. The building, which last was home to a Borders bookstore, has been vacant for 12 years.
Barnes & Noble will take up about 25,000 square feet on the first and lower levels of the building, said John C. Melaniphy, Oak Park’s assistant village manager of economic vitality.
Melaniphy said the property owner is making a significant investment to upgrade building systems and other improvements in the building, which was granted landmark status in November by the Oak Park Village Board.
“The village sees this as a positive redevelopment of the property,” Melaniphy said.
He said the bookstore is expected to open as early as May.
Though there are other bookstores in the downtown district, Melaniphy said Barnes & Noble will be a benefit to the shopping district.
“Every single business adds to the vitality of the community and we’re hopeful that Barnes & Noble will draw consumers from a wide area and assist in drawing additional consumers to our other bookstores,” he said.
Some of the village’s other bookshop owners agreed.
“I’m a firm believer that the more bookstores there are in an area, the more book lovers will visit all of them,” said Steve Kirshenbaum, owner of The Looking Glass, a used bookstore in the downtown district celebrating its 12th anniversary this year.
Barnes & Noble’s announcement comes about a year after The Book Table, a popular Oak Park bookshop, closed. The Book Loft Oak Park opened five months ago in the space vacated by The Book Table.
While Barnes & Noble will bring some competition, owners of The Book Loft said each of the village’s book stores offers something different for customers.
“Our community can still support both,” aid Heather Nelson, who co-owns The Book Loft with Sophie Schauer Eldred. “As someone who lives here, I’m happy to see that building coming back to life.”
Filling a 25,000 square foot space, Melaniphy said, Barnes & Noble will take the downtown district’s largest vacancy off the market. Most of the other vacant spaces offer 4,000 square feet or less for retailers.
Amelia Dellos, marketing director for the Downtown Oak Park Business Alliance, also was excited about the Barnes & Noble plan.
“Of course, we are thrilled to see that the vacant storefront has been rented after so many years, not only in a marquee spot on Harlem and Lake but also in a historic building that has been lying dormant,” she said. “We know that Barnes & Noble will increase foot traffic and business throughout our business district.”
Melaniphy added that the landlord will receive property tax benefits over the next 12 years as he improves the building. And though the landlord will get a break on property taxes, the village will see an increase in sales tax revenue once the store opens.
“We’re going to enjoy a significant increase in sales taxes from this location over many years to come,” he said.
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
