What was once the most architecturally magnificent chain drugstore in Chicago will soon be the city’s most magnificent chain bookstore.
On Wednesday, Barnes & Noble will launch its Wicker Park store in the historic Noel State Bank Building with a grand opening at 10 a.m. The space was previously occupied by Walgreens, which closed in January 2023.
The 1919 neoclassical building is considered an architectural gem and features a stained glass window in its intricate ceiling. Entering through its gilt revolving doors creates a transportive feel fitting for the power of books.
“We open what is now one of the most beautiful bookstores anywhere in the world,” said James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble, in a news release. “Its architects in 1919 described it as the dernier cri in bank architecture and indeed only bankers could have thought to build something so ornate. A little over a century later, we booksellers are thrilled to be the beneficiaries.”
The building at 1601 N. Milwaukee Ave. sits at the heart of the Milwaukee Avenue District, a landmark area recognized as a prominent commercial center since the late 19th century.
James Pioth, Barnes & Noble store manager in Wicker Park, said customers and employees are excited about opening in the beautiful and historic building. “People said, ‘This is the perfect place for a bookstore,’” he added. “It’s an honor to get to run the store.”
The Wicker Park building’s distinctive wedge shape and columns required unusually-shaped shelves to fit around odd angles and in nooks. The famed bank vault in the basement will remain empty and will not be open to the public. Walgreens previously housed its vitamin shelves in the vault, which has a massive door with locking gears and rows of original lockboxes.
The location doesn’t have a cafe, but it has a few small seating areas in its 16,000-square-foot retail space. The store also carries gifts, toys and vinyl records, which are very popular, Pioth said.
He previously worked at Barnes & Noble in Evanston and Skokie. Pioth said each store tailors its displays and offerings to local tastes. In Evanston, customers favored philosophy books while people in Skokie liked history and thrillers.
Across the U.S., Barnes & Noble is seeing “tremendous growth as the strategy to hand control of each bookstore to its local booksellers has proven so successful,” the retailer said in a news release.
The Wicker Park store will also cater to local tastes that will likely favor literary fiction and history, like the bookseller’s Lincoln Park location, Pioth said. But store offerings continually change and adapt to customer preferences, he added.
In June, more than 100 people lined up for the grand opening of its Lincoln Park store. The retailer had previously operated a location at Clybourn and Western avenues last spring but closed the store due to its lease ending.
The store was originally slated to launch in July but the opening was delayed at least twice due to unforeseen site conditions and permitting issues. Principal features on the building cannot be altered without permission from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
Barnes & Noble, the largest private bookseller in the U.S., has been on a store opening spree, after 15 years of shuttering locations. In 2023, it opened more shops in a single year than it had from 2009 to 2019. It’s expanding nationally and plans to open 50 new stores in 2024. The Wicker Park store is the last of four locations to open in the Chicago area this year. The company operates more than 600 bookstores in the U.S.
The Wicker Park store launches a few days before Barnes & Noble marks its return to Washington, D.C., by opening in another historic building in Georgetown. The retailer will occupy the former Forrest Hall, which has previously been a jail, a movie theater and even, for 20 years, a bookstore, said Barnes & Noble in a statement.