After nearly three decades as a fixture in Waterbury, Conn., the Barnes and Noble Booksellers location in the Brass Mill Commons ended its last chapter on Sunday.
“We have loved being a part of this neighborhood, and it has been our honor and privilege to be your bookseller for the last 28 years,” the store’s team shared on social media.
The bookstore, located at 235 Union Street, had to close due to their lease with the property’s owners ending, the post said.
To commemorate the closing, the store held a large clearance sale and a story-time reading with “the legendary Ms. Janet” on their last day of business. The in-store Barnes and Noble Café, a licensed Starbucks Coffee location, also ended service.
Employees also shared a carousel of photographs from over the years, recommending patrons to visit the chain’s newly opened stores in Cheshire, located within the Shops at Stone Bridge development, and Southbury, in the Southbury Green shopping center.
Customers also took to social media to thank the branch’s staff and share their memories.
“So many wonderful memories, from many hours writing and catching up with friends in the cafe to wandering the aisles and finding new book friends to take home,” a comment by one Instagram user said. “BN Waterbury was like a second home.”
“This makes me so sad. It was a great bookstore and a great cafe,” another commented. “I’d spend hours there back in the day.”
This isn’t the first shakeup at the Brass Mill Commons, currently anchored by retailers including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Burlington Coat Factory and Petco alongside Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili’s and McDonald’s restaurants.
A Long Island-based firm, Kohan Real Estate Investment Group, bought the shopping plaza and the adjacent Brass Mill Center enclosed mall in 2022 for $44.9 million before putting them on the market. A deal with Summit Properties made in August 2025 transfers management and leasing rights — and will eventually see the two centers as part of Summit’s portfolio.
“When Kohan purchased the Brass Mill Center and the Brass Mill Commons, they made a significant investment in our community and assured us their ultimate goal is to revitalize the property,” said Joe McGrath, the director of economic development for the City of Waterbury, in 2022. “They…certainly have the expertise and vision to make that transformation happen.”
The plaza’s tenantry has changed over the years — Burlington Coat Factory, which was originally located at the mall, occupies a former TJ Maxx storefront; Dick’s Sporting Goods replaced the departed Toys “R” Us and the discount supermarket Save-A-Lot replaced a long-vacant Shaw’s store following the chain’s exit from Connecticut in 2010.
Recently, it was announced that electronics retailer Best Buy will replace the empty Michael’s Arts and Crafts store which closed in early 2025 and an outparcel building, once home to TGI Friday’s, will be torn down to build a new Raising Cane’s chicken restaurant. No planned replacement for the Barnes and Noble space has been revealed.
“Our strategy is not just to keep tenants in place, but to keep the right tenants for this market,” Denis Nezaj, Summit’s chief operating officer, said to the Hartford Business Journal.
With the closure of Barnes and Noble’s Waterbury location, the national bookstore now has 15 stores in Connecticut.
The chain has grown to be a dominant player in the bookselling industry, due in part to the closure of chain competitors Borders Books and Waldenbooks and business disparities resulting in fewer independent bookstores and from competition with online book retailers like Amazon.