Barnes & Noble bookstore’s current location at Coconut Point shopping center in Estero is closing March 5 after 17 years.

The bookstore chain intends to reopen in a smaller space at Coconut Point but has yet to announce a timetable or exact location. In the interim, the store is hoping shoppers will travel north or south to Barnes & Noble locations at Marketplace SC, 13751 Tamiami Trail in south Fort Myers, or in Waterside Shops, 5377 Tamiami Trail, in Naples.

“Our lease is expiring,” said Janine Flanigan, director of store planning and design for Barnes & Noble. “That landlord is redoing parts of the center. We’re in the process of finding the exact space right now.”

The chain plans to open 30 stores this year, she said.

“What this is doing in terms of relocation, is it’s giving us an opportunity to do a new design,” Flanigan said. “We have completely changed the design of the stores. There have been immense changes over the last few years. That’s a very different story than we would have told five years ago.”

Although the pandemic rejuvenated interests in reading, e-commerce trends continue to take a toll on brick-and-mortar bookstores.

The square footage of the Coconut Point Barnes & Noble will shrink from about 26,000 square feet to between 15,000 and 20,000 square feet.

Simon Property Group, which owns Coconut Point, has yet to announce what will replace the current Barnes & Noble space.

The previous decade wasn’t kind to big-box bookstore chains in Southwest Florida as Borders bookstore at Gulf Coast Town Center in south Fort Myers closed for good in 2011. Books-A-Million closed its largest regional store at The Forum in Fort Myers in 2014 and relocated to a smaller space at Edison Mall in Fort Myers. It also closed its store in North Naples at Mercato shopping center.

At the Coconut Point Barnes & Noble, all books were selling for at least 40% off cover prices until the last day.

Flanigan said the brand has been evolving with changing retail trends and that existing stores will be remodeled. The Naples store, she said, could be receiving a new look soon.

“We are looking at that right now,” she said. “I have Naples on my list to look at renovations in that store. We’re looking to do some refreshes in stores. We probably did 60 stores last year. If we’re not relocating, then we’re doing different things in those buildings.”