Barnes & Noble Bookfair Supports Plainfield Library

Shop at the Joliet location on May 11 and help your local library.

Shop at the Joliet Barnes & Noble store, 2621 Plainfield Rd., anytime on Saturday, May 11, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Plainfield Public Library. To make sure your purchase supports the library, make sure to notify the cashier when you check out. Library staff will offer complimentary gift wrapping, Mother's Day crafts with kids and storytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. For online ordering, use ID #11099769 at www.bn.com/bookfairs (offer good online May 11 through May 16).

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Barnes & Noble Plans to Close 20 Stores Per Year

Since 2003, the bookstore has closed an average of 15 stores annually. The Plainfield location closed its doors in December 2012.

By Chi-an Chang Barnes & Noble Inc. plans to close 30 percent of its stores, or about 20 stores per year, over the next decade, a top executive with the bookstore told the Wall Street Journal.  Mitchell Klipper, chief executive of Barnes & Noble’s retail group, did not provide a list of retail stores that would be closed so there’s no word yet on the future of the Barnes & Noble in downtown Naperville.  The bookseller's Plainfield store closed in December 2012. Barnes & Noble also has a bricks-and-mortar store in Joliet. Read: Plainfield Barnes & Noble Store Closes The company is by far the nation’s largest book retailer chain, since the closing of Borders in 2011, and currently has 689 retail stores and 674 college stores, Huffington Post…

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Landlord: Trader Joe's Could Replace Plainfield Barnes & Noble

Owner of the Route 59 property is 'courting’ the high-end grocery store.

Trader Joe’s in Plainfield? Maybe, Says Property Owner

No confirmed negotiations, but owner of Barnes & Noble site is ‘courting’ the high-end grocery store.

A Plainfield Trader Joe’s store has long been on the wish list of many Plainfield residents, and it could happen, according to the company that owns the site occupied by the soon-to-close Barnes & Noble store. Edwards Realty Co. Vice President Ramzi Hassan said reports that his company is in negotiations with the high-end specialty grocer are premature, but noted they have been "courting" Trader Joe’s to bring a franchise to the site, located at 12700 S. Route 59. Get Plainfield news delivered straight to your inbox – sign up for the Plainfield Patch newsletter. “We have not entered into any negotiations with anyone definitively for the site,” Hassan said. “That’s not to say we don’t hope to in the future.” Hassan said he spoke with …

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Plainfield Barnes & Noble to Close Over Lease Dispute

The Route 59 bookseller will close by the end of the year, the company said.

Plainfield Barnes & Noble Store to Close

Bookstore will close by end of year, company says; the Plainfield Staples store has also called it quits.

A dispute over the cost of rent is the apparent cause of the demise of Plainfield’s Barnes & Noble store. A rep for the company this week confirmed that the store will close by the end of the year after the bookseller was unable to work out a new lease agreement with its landlord. Shoppers at the location, open for more than a decade, were greeted this week by large signs advertising a storewide clearance sale. Get Plainfield news in your inbox — sign up for the Plainfield Patch newsletter. Without elaborating, Barnes & Noble Vice President of Development David Deason issued a statement on the store closing. “We worked diligently with the property owner to work out an agreement that would allow us to keep the store open; unfortunately we …

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About Town

As We Set Records for Cold, Locals Fight the Blahs

If things continue as they are, this winter will be the 19th coldest on record in 114 years.

With Plainfield in the throes of frigid temps all month and no thaw in the sight, weathermen say this is unfolding to be one of the most relentless winters on record. Usually, we’ll get a couple of thermometer readings of 40 or 50 to warm our hearts, if only for a day. But so far this year, the average temp has been 21.5 degrees, which is 5.5 degrees below normal. Meterologist Tom Skilling says this winter is likely to go down in weather history as the 19th coldest of the past 141 years. So, we asked, how are people coping with cabin fever and the winter blues?  I came across retired teacher Karen Perry leisurely flipping through gossip magazines at Barnes & Noble.   “My routine is to take one afternoon a week to get out and have quiet …

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New 'Great Read' Book Explores Life-Altering Technology

In the first of several programs through spring, "Hamlet's Blackberry" author William Powers discusses his book Thursday night via Skype.

It is probably most appropriate that the kickoff to this year’s Great Read program uses the Internet-based Skype video-conferencing to chat with author William Powers. After all, in the book, “Hamlet’s Blackberry,” Powers examines the history of communication technology and how technology has impacted our lives. “Hamlet’s Blackberry,” published in 2010, is this year’s choice for the Plainfield area’s Great Read program, which begins with a Skype discussion with Powers at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Barnes & Noble, 2621 Plainfield Road, Joliet. Book discussions are being planned at the Plainfield, Joliet and Fountaindale libraries with more events, such as a professor lecture on the paperless classroom and a student-led panel on the use of …

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Store Managers Say Post-Christmas Shopping Lighter Than Expected

Combination of dreary weather and the Bears game may have kept people home, but it's expected the next two weeks will be busy.

Traditionally, the day after Christmas is one of the busiest of the year -- sometimes rivaling the day after Thanksgiving - but not so this year for Plainfield stores, managers said Sunday. "Normally the day after Christmas is our busiest day of the year, because we get returns, we get purchases, [and] everyone has gift cards," said Brendan Eelay, manager for GameStop. Earlier in the morning more than $400 in gift card purchases were made as well as about 100 video game trade-ins, but things had slowed quite a bit by afternoon, Ealay said. "There is a football game, so not so much (business)," he said, referring to the Chicago Bears-New York Jets match-up that began at noon Sunday. A lot was riding on the game, including the Bears inching…

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