Roughly 150 people were waiting in line Thursday morning, ready to celebrate the grand opening of Half Price Books newest location on Naperville’s south side, according to a spokesperson for the company.
The store is the 115 for the chain, which has stores in 16 states, according to Half Price Books. The company opened its first Illinois store in 2005 in Niles and now has seven in the Chicago area.
“When our development team looked at various locations, they earmarked certain neighborhoods and Naperville was always on the list,” said Emily Bruce, a public relations manager for the company. Because Naperville is a well-educated community it was a prime location for the store.
The Naperville store, which is 9,100 square feet, is located in the Shoppes of Naperville, at 2867 95th St., according to a news release from Half Price Books.
The first 100 shoppers in the store through Sunday will receive free tote bags and $5 Half Price Books gift cards. One shopper will receive a $100 gift card each day during the grand opening. Mayor George Pradel and the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning in honor of the grand opening.
The company’s first store opened in 1972 in Dallas. The bookseller offers customers new and used books, with most sold at half price, according to the Half Price Book website. Shoppers will find a wide variety of products in the Naperville store including new and used books, magazines, comics, records, cassettes, videos, CDs, DVDs and collectible items.
“Half Price Books offers a unique product mix, which has helped us continue our expansion during this time of change for the retail book industry,” Kathy Doyle Thomas, executive vice president of Half Price Books said in a news release. “We are thrilled to have Naperville as our first new store of 2012, our 40th year in business, and look forward to many exciting things to come for the company.”
The Naperville store's regular hours are Mon. through Sat., 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sun., 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The store is located at 2867 95th St.