amazing store with great customer service, very nice selection of books and very modern interior

Welcome Back, Bookstore! Grand opening on September 15, 2026! This is the return of a major, large-scale bookstore to Elk Grove after 15 years. The previous one closed in 2011. The space is over 20,000 sq ft and even has an indoor café. Parking is free but limited since it's shared with other popular new businesses. Books feel so fresh, and there are people everywhere browsing. I also love that they have candles, gift ideas, games, and toys. SERVICE: Quick, efficient, and friendly. VALUE: Good selection and a fun place to browse, especially if you enjoy physical books. There's just something different about touching a crisp new book, smelling that new-book smell, and flipping through it before buying. Great value! Hope they stay and prosper! read more

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I've always enjoyed reading and have had a special fondness for Barnes & Noble over the years. I used to frequent the locations in Oakland and Dublin/Pleasanton, so I was delighted to hear that a new location had opened in Elk Grove. Since this location is fairly new and conveniently situated in a plaza alongside Whole Foods Market and several other businesses, I decided to visit on a weekend to see it for myself. As expected, the store was quite busy, with many people browsing and enjoying the space. There are comfortable seating areas throughout the store, although most were occupied during my visit. The bookstore itself is wonderfully spacious, beautifully organized, and filled with an impressive selection of books. There is something particularly peaceful about being surrounded by books. Despite the lively atmosphere, I found the space calming and inviting--a lovely place to wander, browse, and simply take in the surroundings. There is also a Starbucks café inside, with a few tables available for those who would like to sit and enjoy a coffee while browsing. Overall, I was genuinely impressed by this location and very happy to have discovered it. It's a wonderful addition to the Elk Grove community, and I look forward to returning again soon. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys books, coffee, and a welcoming atmosphere. read more

Wow this place is amazing. I thought the bookstores were all gone and disappeared. So nice to see this in Elk Grove. It's in the Village shopping mall which is an awesome mall with great stores but the parking is horrible. Always driving around looking for a spot to park. Something to remember when coming here. The place has that new smell when entering. It is huge and so much stuff packed in the place. Not just books. There is a record section. A large cafe in the back. Magazines, toys for the kids. It's like a toy store inside on top of the books. A big section of Legos too. I did notice that it was hard to navigate the entire place. I was looking for books or magazines on wrist watches but couldn't find any. I know they must have them. I think in the old store they had an information desk just to help you find a book. Anyway, it is overwhelming when coming here for the first time. It was still so nice to walk all around the place. It is a must visit for the Elk Grove area. There were so much stuff to view that I didn't even think of checking the prices out. Next time heheh. read more

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Gorgeous, huge & beautiful bookstore!!! Woohoo!!! It's been a long time coming. We appreciate we have this in our backyard finally. Selection is humongous for the first day of operation. Hope it stays that way. We perused throughout the store as we checked it out later in the day since they had a long line first thing in the morning for their grand opening! Their cafe is in the back of the store to cater to your caffeine, liquid & snack needs. We will have to check it out on another day as there was a long line for a snack. Noticed lots of good selections of toys, gift items & price seems decent & not too extravagant. We didn't purchase on our first visit but it appears they took care of purchases within means. I'm sure we will return. Can't wait! See you soon Barnes & Noble. Welcome to Elk Grove! Hooray! read more

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I had to stop in as I was nearby. Such a nice bookstore super clean course cause it's new. There is a Childrens section so the kiddos can explore. There are seats throughout the store where you can sit and browse or read your books. There's also a little Cafe. There's a vinyl section as well and gift wrap area. Great place to do some reading. read more

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In 2011, Elk Grove had Borders. I had memories of going there afterschool a few times a week to read books and buy popular novels. 15 years later, now a Barnes and Nobles opens in Elk Grove! I don't have to go out to Natomas to visit a B&N now! There's a decent selection of books around the store with some seats around the shelves if you want to do a quick read. The manga selection had mostly newer titles and some older titles like Naruto manga volume 1. The comic book selection was a little lackluster though. When Borders closed down I was missing a few volumes of a series for Marvel comics. I didn't see any Marvel comics at this new B&N. They also have popular board games, toys, and puzzles. I hope in the future some of these go on sale because they have a good selection of Legos. The parking lot for here was full probably because everything in this shopping center just started opening. I parked in a different shopping center and did a 10 to 15 minute walk to this one. Hoping in the future the parking isn't too bad. You can get a discount on books and other things for signing up for their paid membership... but you could probably find books online elsewhere for way cheaper. Book prices here are sold as the retailer price on the back of books. Haven't seen any discounts at this new location. I'd only get books here if it was hard to find elsewhere or if it's the same price on Amazon. Too bad there is no price matching at this store. I think the difference between the time when Borders was around to now was that back then I never used Amazon or did any online shopping. read more

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So excited to have the new Barnes & Noble in Elk Grove! The store is beautiful and has such a nice, welcoming atmosphere. I especially love the toddler section there's a great selection of books, plus little tables where kids can sit, look through books, and enjoy the space. Such a cute setup for families, and definitely a place we'll be coming back to often! Great prices I was able to get a seaory book for $9.99 . Service was great staff was super friendly ! read more

Barnes & Noble - Bookstores Near Me - Elk Grove, California

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Barnes and Noble has been shuttering many stores in the Bay Area and in urban cores across America through the years, as e-commerce has changed the Bookstore landscape, while opening new ones in suburban growth areas like this one in Elk Grove 10 miles south of Sacramento. Elk Grove offers B&N a large suburb (population currently 188k!) with growing, vibrant shopping areas and a population of mostly families with disposable income not dominated by housing costs. (A typical 3/2 single family home in greater Sacramento costs 500k to 750k, which comparably costs 2x maybe 3x more depending on the zip code in the Bay Area). This B&N just opened mid September 2026 in the new shopping area called The Villages, which also has brand new stores including Whole Foods, Mendocino Farms, Yard House, Philz Coffee, Chick-Fil-A, Fluffy Fluffy Cafe, and more to come, And The Villages is next to The Ridge shopping block, which has Costco, In-N-Out, Nordstrom Rack, Club One, Olive Garden, Buffalo Wild Wings, etc. The store itself is about 20k sq ft, and has a Starbucks Cafe concession with tables and chairs and solo bar tables around the edges. The front facing book merchandising has all the hot titles neatly displayed, and the rear 1/3 of the store has a lot of areas geared for kids, from small to teen, with toys, kids books, Manga, Anime merch, Kpop Demon Hunters merch, a lot of jigsaw puzzles ( for adults, too, up to 3k pieces). It was packed the first few days, as the new Whole Foods that just opened is just 2 doors down ( with a 20k sq ft store in between TBA). The store was well organized for their highly anticipated opening. The main complaint is for the parking lot of The Villages center with so many new and popular stores opening almost all at once, the parking was starting to feel like the Bay Area! BTW, the undersized parking lot has several EV charging stations, but the white colored stations despite being new (from EV Connect) are big, heavy and clunky, using a huge 7 pin connector (CCS1) which isn't popular like the NACS plug by Tesla and the adapter for it to fit a Tesla (and their are many, many Teslas in Elk Grove) costs $130-$200! Yikes, what a boondoggle! I happened to have one, however, and it did charge my Tesla while I was looking around the Bookstore, but it takes a Fireman to have the strength to plug it in. There are 12 Tesla Superchargers 500 ft away at the Laguna Promenade shopping area, with Nuggets, Peet's, Tanuki Ramen, L'il Caesars, etc., not to be confused with the shopping area across the street at Elk Grove Commons with Trader Joe's, Home Goods, Ace Hardware and Daiso. Elk Grove never saw a chain retailer it didn't like, lol. But there are plenty of independent ones, too. read more

Barnes & Noble - Bookstores Near Me - Elk Grove, California

I absolutely loved checking out the new Barnes & Noble in Elk Grove! The store is so big, spacious, and beautifully laid out. There's something about walking into a bookstore that smells like books and getting to browse all the different sections that makes the experience so enjoyable. I especially love the smaller, newer books and all the different options to explore. We had such a nice time looking around, and it was a great little outing. If you love bookstores, this location is definitely worth checking out! read more

Love B&N. This location is beautifully designed and it's so big. The cafe inside is spacious & a great place to study or getting some work done. The selection on books are endless. read more

Barnes & Noble - Bookstores Near Me - Elk Grove, California

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Beautiful, bright, and large cafe for reading over a cup of tea or coffee. Restrooms are at rear of store, with key code locks.

I know books is their main thing, but they're also pretty much the last actual store that still sells movies. Some of their stores have a great selection, but this one is a HUGE disappointment- just ONE lousy shelf of DVDs (which honestly should be retired by now), Blu-Rays and a few 4Ks, altogether smaller than even the DVD shelves at most Goodwills! Plus the titles that come in unsealed slipcovers were ruined by the store's price tags- if I'm going to pay full retail price for a brand new disc, I want it in perfect condition and this is just unacceptable. Decent selection of recent Criterion releases but forget finding anything else here. You'll be in and out in less than 5 minutes. Sacramento has been a wasteland for movie shopping for years, was hoping this location would help but it's an epic fail. They likewise have one small column of CDs, but have several AISLES of vinyl LPs! I don't know who is actually buying those, I've been buying CDs in 1985 and have no desire to go backwards! PLEASE, SOMEBODY open a GOOD media store in Sacramento, we're STARVING for one here! read more

I really wanted to like this location since it is closer to me but I've had too many problems and had to keep coming back. First, I got double charged for a book and had to go back to get a refund when the lines are already so long. Then I preordered a book just to find out it got cancelled. When I finally got the book, I just noticed that the pages are torn and dirty. This is ridiculous. I've never had this happen to me. I have to check BOTH the receipt AND the book before leaving the store now?! Now I have to go back again to return this damaged book or get a replacement. Gas is expensive now too. I keep having to waste it to go back when these things shouldn't be happening in the first place. I don't ever want to come back to this location. read more

Not a great experience. We went because we wanted to purchase some books BUT... it as so poorly run we left without buying anything. One cashier with at least 10 people in line waiting, no one on the floor at all to help locate a specific book, sections like health not alphabetized so you had to look at every single book instead of authors. We have stood in line for quite a while to ask if the book we were looking for was available and the poor single cashier said that it was in the Health section. Still couldn't get anyone to help us. It was a waste of gas and time. Won't be back. Just totally disappointing. Instead, we drove directly up the freeway to the Arden location where there is a proper help desk and located the specific book in under 5 minutes. read more

I have been excitedly waiting for Threshing Day book by Rebecca Yarros so my husband went into the new location, Barnes & Noble in Elk Grove, to preorder the book which secured my reservation for the September 28th Threshing Day Event. He came home & told me that the event starts at 9:00 PM as was told to him by the staff when he preordered it. I then go to their website to check & saw that the time said 7:00 PM, but then I read that the book will not go on sale until 9:00PM. I thought nothing of it & assumed the start time of 7:00PM was a typo or that the party would start 7:00 PM, but end after 9:00 PM because if the book goes on sale at 9:00 PM THEN WHY WOULD THE STORE CLOSE RIGHT WHEN IT GOES ON SALE!? The event information did not list the end time for the event either. Mind you this is my first book event & this is only my 2nd time entering a Barnes and Nobles. The day comes, so just in case, I triple checked. I called the store the morning of to ask what time the Threshing Day event started because it said 7:00 PM, but I also saw 9:00 PM listed on the website as well. The staff said "I think it starts at 9:00 PM because that would 12:00 AM EST." It's now 8:53 PM & I look up the store by name on the MAPS app to drive to the store location. The app took me across the street to the gas station. After a few minutes I finally find the store. It's now approximately 9:12 PM. I walk up to the store & a staff sticks their head out of the door and tells me, "The store is no longer open to the public." I'm confused & extremely upset because she did not ask me any questions, she did not allow me to explain, nor did not attempt to understand. She immediately tried to shoo me away! I told her I have a reservation. She then told me that the event started at 7:00 PM. I told her that I was told 9:00PM, and she finally let me in. She seemed annoyed by this which enraged me even further because Barnes & Noble should have made it clear on their website that the party started at 7:00 PM & that the doors would be closed at 9:00 PM & the staff should know to explain things properly to it's customers upon purchasing. All staff should all be aware of event dates and start times so this is not a continuous issue. I then got in line & learned from multiple people that they too had a similar experience & thought that the event started at 9:00 PM as well. I will not be returning here or purchasing any books from Barnes and Noble. read more

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Customer service is crap! Beautiful store but they had one cashier on a Sunday and there was a line of about 20 people. We asked twice for another cashier and one finally drifted in. We waited for over 25 minutes to purchase one book. I really like to support bookstores but Amazon delivers so... read more