By Alex LaSalvia and Audrey Martin
The Boston University-affiliated Barnes and Noble bookstore at 660 Beacon St. in Kenmore Square will be moving to West Campus this February, as BU continues to close Kenmore Square properties sold in a 2016 deal with a Boston retail developer.
The new bookstore will be located at 910 Commonwealth Ave. between Sunset Cantina and the West Campus CVS.
BU spokesperson Colin Riley said the move will happen toward the end of February, with no confirmed date for the closing of the Beacon Street location or the opening of the new property.
“It’s a very good location,” Riley said. “It’s probably easier access for a large percentage of the students who either live up in that area or travel up to that area for FitRec or other activities.”
According to Riley, there will be “no interruptions” in Barnes and Noble’s service. The new location will also only have two floors while the old location had five.
The move comes following progression made by the retail developer, Related Beal, in their redevelopment of the buildings in Kenmore Square.
BU students had mixed feelings about the bookstore’s location change.
Briana Sanchez, a freshman in the College of General Studies, said she was OK with the move but believed that it would make accessing the bookstore more of a hassle for East Campus students.
“It’s becoming more inconvenient for people who are in East Campus because that was kind of a thing that was attracting more people over there,” Sanchez, who lives in Warren Towers, said. “For a lot of people, West is kind of far, even living in West is a little isolating to the rest of campus.”
Alex Siordia, a student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, said he has used the bookstore many times and thinks the location change will disproportionately benefit West Campus students.
“If you wanted to take a utilitarian approach to it, you could see what the density of the population of the students relative to each campus is and see if it is going to maximize the amount of students going to that campus,” Siordion said.
Courtney Durso, a freshman in the College of Communication, lives in Warren and said she frequently uses the Barnes and Noble on Beacon Street that is currently in a convenient spot for her.
“I love the Barnes and Noble — I think it’s a great resource, and I’m happy they’re at least keeping it,” she said. “I got most of my textbooks there this semester and last semester. It’s completely easy, and I rent a lot of my textbooks, so even when I returned them last semester, it was as simple as anything.”
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