Half Price Books to Close Concord, Calif., Location

Bookstore chain Half Price Books will close its Concord, Calif., location in early May and hopes to reopen in a new space shortly thereafter, the East Bay Times reported.

According to Half Price Books' public relations manager Emily Bruce, the closure came about after the store's landlord informed the company that "given the level of interest in the property," it would not renew the lease. The retailer's development team is searching for a new location and has six letters of intent out for various spaces, though nothing has been signed.

"While we hope to move elsewhere in the area, we will close the current Concord store in early May to give us time to move all items and fixtures in the store by the end of the month when our lease ends," Bruce told the East Bay Times.

Concord residents have not responded well to news of the closure. Since 2011, the area has lost both a Borders Books & Music and a Barnes & Noble, and more recently many long-standing restaurants and retailers have closed due to rent pressure. A local activist group called the Concord Communities Alliance published a Facebook post about the closure that was shared more than 1,000 times and received nearly 300 supportive comments.

Half Price Books started in Texas in 1972 and now has some 120 stores. The Concord location opened in 2001, and there are several other stores in the Bay Area.

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