 "We buy anything printed or recorded except yesterday's newspaper". | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail (Specialty) |
| Founded | 1972; 53 years ago (1972) |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas |
Number of locations | 120 (2023) |
Key people | |
| Products | Books,Records, CDs, DVDs, Magazines, Video Games |
| Website | hpb |
Half Price Books, Records, Magazines, Incorporated is a chain of new and usedbookstores in the United States. The company's original motto is "We buy and sell anything printed or recorded except yesterday's newspaper", and many of the used books, music, and movies for sale in each location are purchased from local residents. The corporate office is located in the flagshipNorthwest Highway location inDallas, Texas. Half Price Books now operates more than 120 stores (including outlets) in 19 states.[1][2][3][4]
Founders Ken Gjemre (1921-2002) and Pat Anderson (1931-1995) opened the first store in 1972 in a former laundromat in Dallas, Texas, filling the shelves with 2,000 books out of their personal libraries.[5] Pat Anderson's daughter, Sharon Anderson Wright, is the company's current CEO, and Kathy Doyle Thomas is President.[6] In 2009, Sharon's sister Ellen O'Neal stepped up to the position of Chairperson of the Board to become more involved with the family business.
Half Price Books employees at theRoseville andSaint Paul locations inMinnesota filed for union elections in late 2021 and were soon joined by theCoon Rapids location.[7] All three stores won their union elections on December 16, 2021, becoming the first unionized Half Price Books locations.[8] Employees from a fourth Minnesota location inSt. Louis Park won a union election on January 6, 2022.[9] Workers from the state's unionized locations belong to local chapters of theUnited Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).[10]
On July 13, 2023, employees from the four unionized Half Price Books locations in Minnesota began a strike, citing the company's conduct throughout the contract negotiation process. UFCW officials filed an Unfair Labor Practices charge with theNational Labor Relations Board on behalf of the striking workers.[10]
Half Price Books employees inGreenwood, Indiana won a union election on April 1, 2022, becoming the fifth store in the country to organize with a localUnited Food and Commercial Workers chapter.[11][12]
The Half Price Books original mission statement includes the promise to "promoteliteracy and be kind to the environment."[13] Teachers and librarians, for example, are offered a year-round 10% discount on purchases.[13] Each year, every Half Price Books store holds a book drive to collect new or gently used children's books, building "Half Pint Libraries" at non-profit organizations and schools in the communities it serves.[14]
The company has promoted recycling and reusing, and the sound management of paper, energy and water resources. In 2008, Half Price Books launched a formal environmental education initiative called "B(eco)me Green" to help spread knowledge about the health of the environment.[15]
In addition, the chain donates millions of books and its overstock inventory to non-profit organizations around the world such asFeed the Children andAmerican Red Cross. It also gives some of its books toBetter World Books, a for-profit online bookseller.
Half Price Books publishes some of the books it sells, inexpensively reprinting non-copyrighted titles or acquiring the U.S. or English language rights from another publisher. Half Price Books reprints these titles under its publishing arm, Hackberry Press.[16]
Among Hackberry Press titles is the Half Price Books children's storybook seriesSay Good Night to Illiteracy, with 13 editions in print. All proceeds from the series benefit familyliteracy organizations such as Reach Out and Read and theNational Center for Family Literacy project.
The wholesale division of Half Price Books isTexas Bookman, also headquartered in Dallas.[17] Texas Bookman sells trade and scholarly remainders at discount prices to wholesale buyers around the world. In April 2020, Texas Bookman began selling directly to the public on their new retail website.[18] In May 2022, Texas Bookman hosted its first annual trade book show, Texas Remainder Expo (TRex), in which exhibitors travel from across the US and UK to show their latest inventory available for wholesale purchasing at discounted prices.[19]
