Will Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Topeka keep its doors open?
That’s the question residents asked Sunday on the Topeka Experience Facebook page after seeing an online ad for the building at 6130 SW 17th St.
Some were angry at the prospect of losing the bookstore. One said, “If this is true, I’m moving out of Topeka. That would be the last straw for me.”
The Topeka Experience group’s information page states that it is dedicated to positively reviewing local businesses, restaurants and events.
We visited Barnes & Noble to see what was going on. Here’s what we found.
Will Barnes & Noble close its doors?
Janine Flanigan, vice president of store planning and design at Barnes & Noble, said, “We currently have no plans to leave our Topeka location.”
Kansas City-based Ferguson Properties highlights the building in its online listing as “35,000 SF, former Barnes and Noble,” with more than 18,500 vehicles per day on SW Wanamaker Road. Prospective buyers are encouraged to “join a strong tenant mix.”
Crexi.com said the property has been listed since August 2021 and the information was last updated on April 1 of this year. Ferguson Properties also provides data on its 2021 property demographics.
The Capital Journal asked the brokers at Ferguson Properties for comment. They did not respond to further requests.
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Barnes & Noble is a tenant and not an owner of the location
The Barnes & Noble building in Topeka is owned by T-Town Investment Co. LLC, according to Shawnee County property records.
According to Kansas and Missouri state business records, T-Town Investment is a Missouri-based corporation.
T-Town Investment is a subsidiary of the Kroenke Group, a real estate developer in Columbia, Missouri. The Kroenke Group is owned by billionaire real estate developer Stan Kroenke, who is best known as the owner of several professional sports teams, including the Los Angeles Rams, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, and the English soccer teams Arsenal FC and Arsenal WFC.
The Capital Journal contacted the Kroenke Group. They did not respond to repeated inquiries.
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Keishera Lately is a business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @Lately_KT.
Capital Journal reporter Jason Alatidd contributed to this report.
