Nov. 4, 2009 (Business Wire) -- Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, will open a new bookstore on November 18 in the Christiana Mall at 340 Christiana Mall, Newark, Delaware. The store will stock close to 200,000 book, music, DVD and magazine titles and include a café serving Starbucks coffee. The new Christiana Mall Barnes & Noble will be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday, and employ approximately 100 people from the community.

The public is invited to a Preview Night Party at the new Christiana Mall Barnes & Noble on Tuesday, November 17, from 6 to 9 p.m. A portion of the Preview Night sales will benefit the Christina School District. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. with Newark Mayor Vance Funk; Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council will conduct the flag ceremony. Students from throughout the Christina School District will participate in musical performances, art displays, poetry readings and magic demonstrations. Local high school mascots will be on hand to meet their fans.

On Sunday, November 22, at 11 a.m., Judy Schachner, author of the Skippyjon Jones series of children’s books, will host a special Storytime.

Barnes & Noble is the nation’s top bookseller brand for the sixth year in a row, as determined by a combination of the brand’s performance on familiarity, quality and purchase intent; the top bookseller in quality for the second year in a row and the number two retailer in trust, according to the EquiTrend^® Brand Study by Harris Interactive^®. The new store will feature:

• The Barnes & Noble Membership Program. Designed for Barnes & Noble’s best customers, this program gives Members 40% off hardcover fiction and nonfiction bestsellers, 20% off all other adult hardcover books, and 10% off virtually everything else in Barnes & Noble stores and online at Barnes & Noble.com. The annual fee is $25.
• Rapid special-order service. Can’t find it on the shelf? Barnes & Noble’s massive warehouse inventory is available in real-time, enabling its booksellers to order and confirm the availability of over one million titles at the click of a button.
• Large-scale children’s department. Bigger than most typical bookstores and stocking more than 15,000 titles in an easy-to-browse environment, the “Barnes & Noble Jr.” department is designed to appeal to children, parents, teachers and librarians. Children’s Storytime will be held three times a week.
• Advanced technology movie, audiobook and music-previewing system. The store will feature RedDotNet, the most advanced listening and previewing technology.