Barnes & Noble will open its first bookstore in Clovis on April 29 with a signing event featuring New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy.
The bookstore, which began construction in December, will be located in the Clovis Crossing Shopping Mall at Herndon and Clovis avenues at the former site of the JoAnn Fabric and Craft store that closed in May 2025 following a bankruptcy filing.
This will be the bookstore’s third location in the Fresno area, joining the original bookstore in the Villaggio Shopping Center near River Park and a smaller bookstore at Fashion Fair Mall that opened in November 2024.
The 18,000-square-foot retail space will offer not only books, but also toys, games, stationery, vinyl records, and other items customers expect to find at the largest bookstore chain in the United States. Similar to its other full-size locations, the place also includes a café, which serves Starbucks coffee, pastries, and other quick bites.
The Clovis location was expected to open in May 2026, according to the chain’s website. Barnes & Noble will hold a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9 a.m. on April 29.
Book lovers can join local author Murphy at the ribbon-cutting and share her new book, “A Thousand Perfect Lives,” plus a book signing event, according to Barnes & Noble’s website.
A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Murphy has penned over 60 novels on contemporary and young romance. She resides in the Central Valley near Yosemite National Park with her family, according to Murphy’s website.
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Leqi Zhong is the Clovis accountability/enterprise reporter for The Bee. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a Master’s degree in journalism. She joined The Bee in 2023 as an education reporter. Leqi grew up in China and is native in Cantonese and Mandarin.