Barnes & Noble to Open Gulfport, MS Superstore in Fall, 1999.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 10, 1999--

55 New Jobs Will Be Created

Barnes & Noble, Inc., the nation's largest bookseller, today announced it has signed a lease agreement to open a new superstore in Gulfport, MS. The 21,000 square-foot store, expected to open in late September1999, will be located at 15246 Crossroads Parkway. It will create approximately 55 new jobs. The company will begin to look for experienced booksellers to fill these staff positions shortly.

"We are excited by the prospect of becoming a vital part of this dynamic community," said Alan Kahn, chief operating officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc. "The new Gulfport superstore will offer our customers an extensive selection of book titles in a wide range of subjects, including in excess of one million book titles, usually shipped within 24 hours, from our distribution center."

In a spacious and comfortable atmosphere, the store will carry more than 50,000 different book titles in a wide range of subjects, many from thousands of small, independent publishers and university presses. While some titles are common to all Barnes & Noble stores, other book titles are carefully selected to reflect the local lifestyles and interests of our Gulfport customers. The store's information stations provide access to the more than one million book titles from Barnes & Noble's state-of-the-art distribution center.

The new Gulfport Barnes and Noble will have an extensive children's selection in an area designed especially for kids and a music department featuring comprehensive selections in classical music, opera, jazz and blues. The store will also feature a Barnes & Noble Cafe, serving in a classic bistro setting Starbucks coffee, cappuccino, espresso; the full-leaf teas of The Republic of Tea; cold drinks; and a variety of reasonably priced gourmet sandwiches and desserts.

The store's staff will develop an ongoing calendar of events, including poetry readings, book discussion groups, author signings, and children's story-telling hours, often featuring special guests. The events are designed to respond to the specific interests of the Gulfport community.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) operates 519 Barnes & Noble and 450 B. Dalton bookstores. Barnes & Noble stores stock an authoritative selection of book titles and provide access to more than one million titles. They offer books from more than 50,000 publisher imprints with an emphasis on small, independent publishers and university presses. Barnes & Noble is one of the world's largest booksellers on the World Wide Web (http://www.bn.com), and the exclusive bookseller on America Online (Keyword: bn). barnesandnoble.com has the largest standing inventory of any online bookseller. Barnes & Noble also publishes books under its own imprint for exclusive sale through its retail stores, mail-order catalogs, and Web site.

General financial information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company's investor relations Web site: http://www.shareholder.com/bks/.