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Barnes & Noble UK Bookstore and Cafe
Your Campus Hub for Books, Wildcats Gear, and Starbucks Coffee
3.8(5 reviews)
$$
retail-store
bookstores
colleges-and-universities
Comprehensive selection of academic textbooks for University of Kentucky courses, available for purchase or rental with price matching.
Wide variety of books including manga, science fiction, history, and bestsellers, with themed displays for major series.
Extensive collection of apparel, gifts, and souvenirs featuring University of Kentucky logos and themes.
Full-service Starbucks offering coffee, beverages, and snacks with indoor and outdoor seating areas.
Selection of school essentials, tech gadgets, and accessories including brands like Beats and Apple.
Helpful staff available to assist with book searches, special orders, and general inquiries.
Your Campus Hub for Books, Wildcats Gear, and Starbucks Coffee
No photos available
Barnes & Noble UK Bookstore and Cafe serves as the official campus store for the University of Kentucky, offering a comprehensive selection of textbooks, general interest books, school supplies, technology, and a wide array of UK Wildcats merchandise. Located in Lexington, this spacious two-level store features a Starbucks cafe on the main floor, making it a convenient one-stop shop for students, alumni, and visitors. While it functions as a bookstore and cafe, it also doubles as a vibrant gift shop celebrating UK spirit, with dedicated sections for apparel, home goods, and themed displays for popular series like Harry Potter and BookTok favorites. Our knowledgeable staff is here to help you find exactly what you need, whether it's academic materials or the perfect Wildcats souvenir.
While the area is labelled as a cafe and bookstore it’s clear that it’s more interested in being the UK gift shop. The store is separated into an upstairs and downstairs, both of which are very large areas. Even with how large the areas are, only about an eighth of the downstairs room is dedicated to a Starbucks cafe and the rest being UK/Wildcats merchandise. As for the upstairs, it fares better than its counterpart downstairs as at least more than half of it is a dedicated area to buy and rent textbooks. Asides from that, the area is separated into different sections. The books, school supplies, technology, and a small area for Legos. About sixty percent of the non-textbook area has other books like manga, science fiction, history, and other such and they do a good job at covering their bases and having a variety of options available. They also have themed stands for major series like Harry Potter and StarWars as well as a stand for BookTok selections. The school supplies and technology areas are far smaller with the tech area being bigger than the school supplies area. While I do appreciate the variety of books there are as well as the technology and school supplies areas, the shop is clearly more catered to be a gift shop for the sports teams. While I’m fine with this on the surface, I also find it disappointing that so much of the shop is dedicated to this when it’s not even labeled as a gift shop, shoving aside the books and the cafe when that’s the literal title of the area.
I’m not a student but I had a chance to visit. There were many school goods like foodies, T-shirts and so on. I like the blue and white color. They also has Starbucks.
At the Kentucky Bookstore, I found an impressive selection of apparel, all clearly marked with discounts. The service was excellent, and it was convenient that they accepted cash payments. However, there was a minor inconvenience regarding the use of the fitting room; it was necessary to ask the cashier to unlock it, requiring them to walk a significant distance, which was somewhat time-consuming and made me feel a bit hesitant to bother them. Despite this small issue, the overall experience was positive. The store offers good value and service, making it a worthwhile visit.
Nice, new and great building. Lots of trinkets, wear items, and books. The bookstore matches prices on textbooks. There is still something quite rodd about the bookstore if what two employees told me is true: The is no restroom in the building, so if while you are shopping you need relief you need to go out somewhere else. This sounds plain stupid to me, again, if it is true. I guess the architect did not have to go to bathroom.
Beautiful new bookstore with lots of variety. Starbucks on the main level with outside seating. Lots of apparel to choose from as well as items for the dog, the baby and the home. Tech area upstairs with lots of gadgets including Beats and Apple products. Barns and Noble bookstore as well as lots of school supplies that every student needs through out the year. Helpful staff and short lines even when there are a lot of shoppers. Laid out well.
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