Baltimore is getting its first stand-alone Barnes & Noble bookstore in nearly six years.

The national bookstore chain will take over the former Oceanaire Seafood Room location later this year, according to a press release from Harbor East Management Group. It’s a 100,000-square-foot space at 801 Aliceanna St., right along the roundabout in Harbor East

“Introducing a bookstore to our entertainment and retail lineup has been a thoughtfully planned, long-term goal for us,” said Tim O’Donald, president of Harbor East Management Group, in a statement. “We’ve had our eye on Barnes & Noble for years, and we’re excited to officially welcome them to Harbor East.”

Janine Flanigan, Barnes & Noble’s vice president of store planning and design, said the new store will also have toys, games and gifts.

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“We are thrilled to be part of this community and look forward to joining the neighborhood when we open this fall,” Flanigan said.

Barnes & Noble has about 700 stores nationwide and said it plans to add 60 more this year. The company opened new locations last year in Pasadena in Anne Arundel County and Westminster in Carroll County. It will open another in Lutherville Station later this year or early next year.

Baltimore, nicknamed the “City That Reads,” has been without a Barnes & Noble since August 2020, when the long-standing store at the Power Plant Live in the Inner Harbor shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Towson also lost its store in 2017.

The city location was large and known for its architecture. But those same factors made it difficult to maintain, a spokesperson for the company said at the time.

The closures were also seemingly part of the company’s 2013 decision to slash its footprint.

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The city hasn’t gone completely without a Barnes & Noble. There are three locations, though they’re all operated by the company’s education arm, Barnes & Noble Education, and are located on university campuses.

Johns Hopkins University ended its operator partnership with Barnes & Noble Education last year, replacing it with Follett, a higher education solutions company.

Over the years, Baltimore residents have turned to local libraries and independent bookstores for their reading needs.

Some 2.4 million books at the Enoch Pratt Free Library were loaned last year, the Banner reported — a new record.

The new Barnes & Noble at Harbor East joins several other new offerings. Sandbox VR opened earlier this year, and soon to come are Game Show Battle Room, furniture retailer 7th Avenue and The Rosewater, a private members club from Atlas Restaurant Group.