Barnes & Noble Launches New Store in El Paso, Texas

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), one of the nation's largest booksellers and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced the debut of a new bookstore on October 16 at The Fountains at Farah, 8889 Gateway West, in El Paso, TX. Concurrently, the existing Eastside store will close. The location will include a vast sales floor of more than 60,000 books, newsstand titles, gifts and DVDs, a NOOK Boutique showcasing the company's family of award-winning NOOK Readers and Tablets, an Educational Toys & Games Department, and a Café featuring Starbucks coffee. The Fountains at Farah Barnes & Noble will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday. The store will serve the greater El Paso, TX, market and employ approximately 60 people from the community.

As part of the Grand Opening celebration, the new El Paso Barnes & Noble is hosting a free Friends and Family Preview Night on Tuesday, October 15, from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. The proceeds from Preview Night will go to the El Paso Children's Hospital. In addition to showcasing the new state-of-the-art store, the event will feature performances from local musicians including the Bowie High School Marching Band and jazz guitarist Rene Carbajal.

"We're excited for this opportunity to give our customers a beautiful new store providing the best-in-class offerings available," said David Deason, Vice President, Development at Barnes & Noble. "Of course, we will continue to serve the community with a vast selection of books, educational toys and games, and our innovative family of NOOK Readers and Tablets, supported by extraordinary customer service for which Barnes & Noble is known. Our booksellers are excited to continue to serve the community-and recommend great reads and create memorable experiences with a new and exciting store."

The new El Paso Barnes & Noble will feature:

• Large-Scale Children's and Teen Departments. Bigger than most typical bookstores and stocking more than 12,000 titles in an easy-to-browse environment, the Children's Department is designed to appeal to children, parents, teachers and librarians. The expansive Teens section features more than 3,000 titles specially selected to appeal to the reading interests of young adults. The Children's Department will also host a weekly Storytime every Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and other events featuring guest readers and costumed characters.
• Giant Newsstand. The store's Newsstand stocks thousands of magazines, including hundreds of imported magazines, specialty titles, as well as a wide selection of newspapers and popular bestselling comic series.
• NOOK Boutique. Barnes & Noble welcomes customers to shop its award-winning family of NOOK devices. The knowledgeable team of NOOK experts will answer any questions and provide immediate, in-person support. The NOOK Boutique will also feature an outstanding collection of must-have NOOK accessories including designer covers and functional essentials to complete the experience. Also, to help customers learn more about NOOK features and benefits, the store will host a weekly NOOK class.
• Educational Toys & Games Department. Barnes & Noble features the world's smartest selection of curated educational toys and games at great values to encourage early childhood development and a lifelong love of learning and reading. This department also offers a vast assortment of games and puzzles specially selected for teens and adults at unbeatable prices to satisfy customers' diverse interests.
• B&N@School. The B&N@School Department features educational tools and resources for teachers, librarians and parents. Educators are also offered 20% off merchandise for classroom use through Barnes & Noble's Educator Program.
• Community Center. This store will serve as a local community center, hosting a number of community-oriented events throughout the year, including author signings and discussions, book clubs and programs with local literary and cultural organizations, and other annual events such as the Summer Reading program and the Holiday Book Drive. The Business Development Department will also help meet the needs of schools, businesses and non-profit organizations through discount purchasing programs, educator discounts and bookfair fundraisers. Please contact Jennifer Pedroza at crm2370@bn.com for further details.
• Barnes & Noble Café Featuring Starbucks Coffee and The Cheesecake Factory Bakery Products. Customers can relax and enjoy delicious food and drinks in a welcoming Café setting, including Starbucks beverages, desserts from The Cheesecake Factory, fresh-baked cookies and scones, soup, sandwiches, pizza, quiche and more.
• The Barnes & Noble Membership Program. Designed for Barnes & Noble's best customers, this program gives Members 40% off hardcover bestsellers and 10% off almost everything else in Barnes & Noble stores. Members also benefit from free express shipping on all online purchases at BN.com. The annual fee is $25.
• Rapid Special-Order Service. Barnes & Noble's massive warehouse inventory is available in real time, enabling its booksellers to order and confirm the availability of over 1 million titles at the click of a button.
• Complimentary Wi-Fi Service. Customers can browse and download books, magazines and newspapers in seconds, and easily check email via the free AT&T Wi-Fi connection offered at all Barnes & Noble stores. NOOK owners receive extra perks such as coupons and exclusive content from top authors when they connect their device to the complimentary Wi-Fi through the More in Store program.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is a Fortune 500 company and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The company operates 674 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web's largest e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). Its NOOK Media LLC subsidiary is a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets. The NOOK digital business offers award-winning NOOK products and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store (www.nook.com), while Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC operates 692 bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is proud to be named a J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Customer Service Champion and is only one of 50 U.S. companies so named. Barnes & Noble.com is ranked the number one online retailer in customer satisfaction in the book, music and video category and a Top 10 online retailer overall in customer satisfaction according to ForeSee E-Retail Satisfaction Index (Spring Top 100 Edition).

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company's corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.