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DALLAS - The prices may be half off, but the size is more than six times the usual Half Price Books devotes to its stores.
The Dallas-based bookstore chain opened its first superstore two weeks ago in a 53,000-sq.ft. building across the street from its former store location. With more than 500,000 new and used books, the new flagship store resembles more of a library-and rivals some of the biggest boxes of new book retailers.
But there's nothing ordinary about this Dallas bookstore, which caters to bargain-hunting readers with books priced at half-off the list price as well as finds of rare and collectible books and music. Among the rare items for sale in an enclosed glass case were "West-Running Brook" signed by author Robert Frost for $650, the Beatles' album "Yesterday and Tomorrow" for $1,000 and the collection of controversial photos, Mapplethorpe Limited, selling for $750.
"You've got to think big to do big things. We always try to push the envelope," said Kathy Doyle Thomas, Half Price's vice president of marketing and real estate.
Half Price Books, which has 64 stores in 10 states, claims the new flagship as the largest bookstore in Texas. Its typical stores average 8,000 to 10,000 sq. ft. and stock the same types of items, but not the same breadth. Thomas said the superstore is a oneof-a-kind that probably will not be repeated; the chain had an opportunity to purchase a vacant building across the street from its former 23,000-sq.-ft. store that had a lease set to expire within two years.