Photo Gallery: New Barnes & Noble Opens on Somerset Street

After months of construction, the new Barnes & Noble bookstore, which will serve as the main bookstore for Rutgers University, is open for business.

With an entrance on Somerset Street, across from the intersection of College Avenue, the three story bookstore boasts a cafe with Starbucks-brand coffee and food, a full selection of books in numerous topics, including a children's section, several reading and study areas, a technology area and Rutgers University apparel.

The ground floor of the store is dedicated to textbooks.

The bookstore is next to a walkway that leads to the New Brunswick Train Station from Somerset Street, which also opened this past summer. The store is accessible from the walkway, which leads to the southbound platform of the station.

Both are considered part of the Gateway Transit Village project that also includes the adjoining "The Vue" high rise apartment complex.

The store boasts free wireless, both inside and out, according to Chris Paladino, President of the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO), the agency that handled the project.

The cafe will open at 7 a.m. on weekdays to be accessible to commuters taking the train. 

Paladino said the new store will also play into a of College Avenue that will completely renovate the campus between Bishop Place and Hamilton Street, stating that the new bookstore is  "as good as any other (college bookstore) in the country."

The store's scheduled grand opening is in September.

Barnes & Noble is located at 100 Somerset St.

It is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

The cafe opens at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday and at 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, visit http://bookstore.rutgers.edu.