Barnes & Noble announced it will celebrate the grand opening of its new bookstore in Kimball Junction next week.America’s largest bookstore will open in the former Bed, Bath & Beyond in the Redstone Shopping Center at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Park City-based author Jack Carr will cut the ribbon and sign copies of his books. The former Navy SEAL Sniper has written several political thrillers following “a modern-day special operations soldier, dispensing an ancient form of justice in today’s modern geopolitical landscape,” according to his website. He also has a nonfiction book about the 1983 Marine barracks bombings in Beirut, Lebanon.The new bookstore will have the latest design seen at the most recent Barnes & Noble openings as well as the B&N Café, according to the company. “Opening a new bookstore is always a joyous occasion, and this one doubly so,” said James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble, in a statement. “We are not only celebrating our new Park City Barnes & Noble, but also our new Murray bookstore which opened just last week. Our Park City booksellers are eager to welcome customers into their beautiful new Barnes & Noble.”The Park City location has been posting construction updates and meet-the-bookseller content on its Instagram page. Barnes & Noble is expected to employ a team of around 25 at its Kimball Junction location.The store originally planned to open on Wednesday, but it has experienced several construction delays. That was also the day of the grand opening of the new Murray location. Barnes & Noble announced it was opening its first Wasatch Back location in March. It will occupy the third largest commercial building, a 21,366-square-foot storefront, near the center of the Redstone plaza.Barnes & Noble has experienced tremendous growth in the last few years, which the company attributed to its strategy of giving control of each bookstore to the booksellers.The bookseller is experiencing strong sales in its existing stores and has been opening many new stores after more than 15 years of declining store numbers. Barnes & Noble opened more new bookstores in 2023 than it had in the whole decade from 2009 to 2019. It expects to open over 60 new bookstores in 2024, according to the bookseller.Barnes & Noble is set to open 12 new stores this month, including two in Utah as well as locations in New York, Florida, New Hampshire, Indiana, Kansas, California, Washington, D.C., and New Jersey. The bookseller has 10 stores in Utah, mostly along the Wasatch Front.“I’m so proud to open a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Park City,” said store manager Matt Turvey in a prepared statement. “Opening a new bookstore is a labor of love and takes tremendous teamwork and effort. Our passionate booksellers can’t wait to welcome the community into their beautiful new Park City Barnes & Noble.”Barnes & Noble partnered with Sub Pop Records to provide a free collectible tote bag to customers who purchase any of the company’s CDs or vinyls. Two customers will also be surprised with a free, limited edition color variant vinyl on opening day.There are several other activities already planned at the Park City location, including in-person author events with Lynn Buchaan, Lena Jeong and Brooke Stayrook as well as a late-night release party for Rebecca Yarros’ highly anticipated novel “Onyx Storm.”The post Barnes & Noble will open Kimball Junction store next week appeared first on Park Record.