Bookworms lined the Brea Plaza sidewalk in anticipation of the Barnes & Noble bookstore’s grand opening Nov. 5.
The opening is part of the franchise’s nationwide 60-store expansion, a result of “strong sales” due to a reading resurgence amongst Gen Z (fueled, in part, by TikTok’s #BookTok communities) and a desire for more communal gathering spaces.
Amongst the more than 400 people who waited in line for the 10 a.m. opening was Emily Bohmwald (’26). “As a reader, I was so excited to have a Barnes & Noble open,” Bohmwald said.
The bookstore fills a void left by the 2011 closure of the Brea Plaza Borders and the 2006 closure of Tower Records and Books in Downtown Brea. Since then, the closest bookstores are a city away: Fullerton’s Barnes & Noble and Half Off Books.
“Exposure and access to books is so important,” Kristen Dedmon, Literature and Composition 1 teacher, said. Dedmon noted the value Borders added to the community as a “place to study and hang out with friends.”
Summer Teal, AP English Language and Composition teacher, attributes the grand opening’s large turnout to a society-wide desire to disengage from phones and digital media and to embrace physical media.
“[Reading] is a return to things that are tangible and not just digital,” Teal said. “We crave human interaction, human stories. With [artificial intelligence], I think people are pursuing authenticity, and there’s such a value to that; they’re looking for genuine experiences.”
But ultimately, according to Teal, “A bookstore opening is so much more than books; it’s a community gathering.”
Madelyn Brewer (’26), who usually gets her book fix from the Brea Library, attended the event, elated that the bookseller’s doors were finally open. “I’m really happy to have a Barnes & Noble so close,” Brewer said. “This really is my dream.”
Abraham Baltodano (’26) also noted the convenience of a neighborhood bookstore. “A Brea location makes it easier to get books for my coding projects instead of going to a Fullerton bookstore,” Baltodano said.
Once inside the store, attendees were treated to book signings by authors Holly Goldberg Sloan, Chelsea Ichaso, and Sara Hashem.
For Bohmwald, the day’s highlight was getting a copy of Ichaso’s latest thriller, We Were Warned, signed. “I’ve been a fan of Chelsea Ichaso for years,” Bohmwald said. “Getting my book signed was so exciting.”
Although the Brea Barnes & Noble does not contain an in-house cafe like its counterparts in Fullerton, Chino, and Irvine, as there’s a Starbucks location a storefront away, it features leather-cushioned seats amongst the bookshelves, carpeted floors, and ample space to browse and flip through books, graphic novels, and magazines.
The interior is, for Charlotte Nethers (‘28), Wildcat Arts and Culture Editor and avid reader, ideal for “reading a good book or studying with friends.”
Literature and Composition 1 teacher Alex Koers recalls the popularity of the Brea Borders and Tower Records locations. “As an English teacher, it was thrilling walking into Borders on a weekend evening and seeing students sitting cross-legged in the aisles, flipping through whatever YA novel was at the moment, then bringing their finds to class on Mondays,” Koers said.
