Barnes Noble opens new Clovis Crossing store April 29, with local author signing

Barnes & Noble will open its first Clovis bookstore at Clovis Crossing on April 29, giving Herndon Avenue a new 18,000-square-foot retail anchor in the former Joann Fabrics space next to Petco. The store is set to open at 9 a.m. PT at 1065 Herndon Ave., Clovis, CA 93612, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a book signing by local author Monica Murphy.

The opening is built around more than shelves of novels. Barnes & Noble said the Clovis store will carry books, toys, games, magazines, gift items and a Barnes & Noble Café, turning the location into a place where shoppers can browse, sit and stay longer than they would at a typical strip-center stop. Murphy will sign copies of her young adult novel, A Thousand Perfect Lies, which gives the launch a local tie-in that fits Clovis Crossing’s family-oriented customer base.

The retailer’s move into the former Joann space also says something about the pressure and reshaping of brick-and-mortar retail in Fresno County. Joann closed all of its stores in spring 2025 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2025, leaving large vacated footprints that national chains are now repurposing. In Clovis, Barnes & Noble’s arrival replaces a shuttered fabric chain with a bookstore designed to draw steady traffic from readers, families and people already making trips to nearby stores.

Barnes & Noble’s expansion plan gives the opening broader context. The company said it plans to open more than 60 stores in 2026, part of a growth strategy that gives local booksellers more control over individual stores and returns the brand to markets it once served. That approach has helped the chain lean into smaller regional tastes while still using a national footprint, a strategy that now reaches Clovis Crossing.

For Clovis Crossing, the bookstore adds another reason for shoppers to make the center a destination rather than a quick errand stop. A bookstore with a café and a scheduled author event can create repeat visits, and those visits often spill over to nearby tenants on Herndon Avenue. In a retail market where closures usually get the headlines, the debut of a new bookstore signals that well-positioned physical stores still have room to grow in Fresno County.