Half Price Books, which operates 126 stores across the country, has reopened at a new location in Concord, Calif., after being forced to leave its previous space earlier this year when a new landlord decided not to renew the company's lease, the Mercury News reported.
The new, 6,600-square-foot bookshop is located in the Willows Shopping Center at 1975 Diamond Boulevard. Although it's smaller than the store's previous downtown home, many customers have commented on how the space seems larger, according to manager Jake Hansen. Noting that last Thursday's grand opening drew a crowd of waiting customers lined up around the building before 10 a.m., he added: "We're thrilled that the support has been so sweet."
The scramble to find a new location after the downtown store closed was challenging, since "most spots were either too small, too expensive or off the market," the Mercury News wrote, adding that the Willows Shopping Center "is right next to the new the Veranda center, where a Barnes & Noble--which had left central Contra Costa as part of store closures in previous years--also opened a new location this year."
"I'm just happy that we're back," Hansen said.