Barnes & Noble Flagship Styled to Wow, Woo New York's Upper East Side

(MoneyWatch)  Barnes & Noble has opened up a second New York flagship bookstore in Manhattan as a 55,000 square foot multi-level location offering more than 400,000 book, music, DVD and magazine titles as well as the almost obligatory café serving Starbucks coffee.

The company envisions the store as a neighborhood gathering place and has equipped it to that purpose. To get locals in to see the offering, Barnes & Noble scheduled a line up of reading events to coincide with the opening. On grand opening day, Friday of last week, the store sponsored a children's reading in its kid's section that included a visit from Winnie the Pooh.

The grand opening reading series, which runs through June 30, includes appearances from comedian Lewis Black, astronaut Buzz Aldrin and chef Emeril Lagasse. Also slated among the new-store events was a concert by Broadway performers in support of the Our Time Listen CD.

On that note, it's worth pointing out that the new flagship houses the Upper East Side's largest music selection and stocks the biggest Blu-ray disc line up in Manhattan, Barnes & Noble contends.

The store also offers the neighborhood's largest assortment of adult books with expanded Arts, Cooking, Travel and Literary Fiction sections. And a deluxe gift department will offer stylish presents and curated products in addition to an expansive array of puzzles and games. As suggested, the children's book section includes enough space for storytelling and other events and also includes, BN@School, Educational Toys and Games areas in addition to stroller parking in an alcove that can house dozens of perambulators. Across the lower level from the children's section, a dedicated reading and events room includes a comfortable, quiet space where audiences can enjoy speakers and performers who have a Green Room available to help them prepare for their turn in the spotlight.

To help it better suit the neighborhood, the new Barnes & Noble features a community mural just beyond the entrance to the store.

For the grand opening, Barnes & Noble expanded upon a promotion it had been running for Father's Day offering books, boxed collections and other items normally sold from between $9.99 and $99.99 ?€" including a complete boxed Chronicles of Narnia paperback set ?€" for $5. Company spokesperson Kristin Connor noted that the new flagship store provided an enlarged selection of $5 offerings to make its launch that much more compelling for the community.