DOWNTOWN BERKELEY — What’s the best thing you’ve ever seen come through the store? Upon hearing the question, Nate Filomeo smiles.
“Oh goodness. Honestly, I had to stop myself from buying it.” The visiting store manager looks upward, absorbed in recalling the picture from memory. “It was a DVD box set for the original Gundam. The whole thing was made to look like the original laserdisc painting.” He sighs, reminiscing on the popular Japanese sci-fi series. “It was gorgeous.”
“An old Grover Washington vinyl.” “The Lord of the Rings trilogy.” “All of Mad Men and most of The Sopranos.” Customers recalled their all-time favorite finds as they perused the eclectic wares of Half Price Books Berkeley. Operating over 120 locations in 19 states, the national bookstore chain specializes in physical media — from comic books to video game consoles — and is a favorite of creatives and collectors.
But on Nov. 30, customers weren’t just searching for vintage VHS tapes or magazine collectibles. They were in pursuit of memorabilia for Half Price Books Berkeley itself.
After two decades on Shattuck Avenue, the bookstore was set to close. The iconic bookseller’s Berkeley location survived the introduction of Netflix streaming, the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. They were housed in the historic Kress Building, originally a five-and-dime department store. Prior to moving to Shattuck, the store operated from Telegraph and then Solano Avenue.
Even on its last day, the store gave the impression of keeping one foot in the past. The wooden bookshelves, sprawled across the whole floor, mimicked an old-fashioned thrift shop. Faded CDs were stacked atop rows of cassette tapes. The wall of DVDs could satisfy anyone’s nostalgia for Blockbuster.
Some customers toted around entire shopping carts or carried neatly stacked baskets. Many were longtime customers; others were making their first visits before it was too late.
“I especially liked their clearance section, which is right here off to the left. You could find some real gems,” said Trevor Cralle, gesturing to a back corner of the store that was completely cleared out. The longtime customer carried four books of travel literature under his arm. “You could interview 25 people before the store closes and they would all have different answers for why they come here,” he remarked.
For some, Half Price Books was a childhood landmark. “This area was my stomping grounds all throughout my teens. This bookstore was definitely a fixture,” said Clem Gunter, who graduated from the nearby Berkeley High School and is now a student in college.
Others came to Half Price Books to regain their balance. “It’s a nice place to relax and settle down mentally,” said Nick Jean, a UC Berkeley student who often visited the bookstore after lab or lecture.
Berkeleyside reported Half Price Books’ upcoming closure back in July. The announcement fueled widespread community protest, with many taking to social media to express their discontent. A Change.org petition started by the community has received 1,697 signatures to date. The creator of the petition described the store as a “beloved community institution that enriches the cultural and economic life of our city.”
“I’m shocked that this location is closing because it’s such a highly trafficked area,” remarked Cralle. In addition to being in the downtown area, Half Price Books was only a short walk from UC Berkeley, which has about 45,000 students.
Indeed, many of the customers on closing day wore UC Berkeley hoodies and sweaters. “I pass by here all the time,” affirmed Jean, who studies computer science at the university.
Considering its proximity to the book-buying public, Half Price Books’ closure came as a surprise to many. “They mentioned something about not having enough revenue and the rent being too high,” Jean said, recalling his conversation with a staff member a few weeks ago. “We’re right next to a university campus so I expected that the store would still be doing well.”
Gunter’s partner, Sequoia Royal, pointed out the potential consequences of operating a business near UC Berkeley. “The price of college, and especially prestigious colleges such as UC Berkeley, has skyrocketed past the mark of inflation, along with things like housing and real estate,” said Royal. “This has led to a higher level and faster rate of investment here in downtown Berkeley, and it’s kind of outpacing the community around it.”
“It’s certainly transformed. I don’t think it’s for the better,” added Gunter.
The most prominent factors contributing to the closure appear to be rent price and a lack of revenue. Emily Bruce, the public relations manager for Half Price Books, reported to Berkeleyside that the store was “unable to come to a lease agreement” with their landlord.
In a closing day interview, Visiting Store Manager Nate Filomeo corroborated this statement. “The landlord worked with us to try to find a solution. It’s just that both parties couldn’t come to an agreement.”
He went on to emphasize the difficulty of operating a used books business in an expensive state. “Berkeley is constantly rising in prices, and costs in general across California are very expensive. So when you’re selling used books, there’s really only so much that can be done when it comes to rent.”
The increasing cost of living in Berkeley has not been lost on the local community. According to Berkeley residents, the city’s downtown area has changed considerably. Gunter observed that mom-and-pop shops have been slowly overtaken by chain restaurants such as Sweetgreen. They also estimate that “a solid third” of the businesses died due to the pandemic.
“I mean, are there any functional movie theaters left in downtown Berkeley?” Gunter wondered aloud.
“You gotta go all the way down to Elmwood,” said a man browsing the shelves behind him.
“Dang,” Gunter replied.
Arts-based establishments are waning in downtown Berkeley. This past year, the popular chain bookstore, Books Inc., shut down their location on Shattuck Avenue after filing for bankruptcy. In the legal court filing, Books Inc. reported seeing significant increases in operating costs: including higher payroll and rent expenses, which ultimately contributed to the store falling into debt.
Though Books Inc. was able to negotiate rent reductions for all 11 of its locations from 2020 to 2021, failure to negotiate a reduced rent structure for its Berkeley store led to the store’s closure: the only location to meet this outcome. The popular chain has since been bought by Barnes & Noble.
The pandemic posed a unique challenge for all bookstores, the majority of which depend on foot traffic to generate sales. The geographical linkage between Books Inc. and Half Price Books’ respective closures suggests that this loss of revenue hit especially hard in Berkeley.
Ambitious plans for housing development have played a large part in changing downtown Berkeley. In an article for the Daily Californian, John Caner — CEO of the Downtown Berkeley Association — explained that stores have become vacant in anticipation of development. However, due to the housing market slowing down and interest rates still being high, the majority of these projects have been postponed. The Daily Californian reported that 35% of vacant spaces on Shattuck are waiting on future development.
According to the association, 17 major development projects are in the works, but reporting from Berkeleyside found that none of them were actively in progress. These delays have left glaring gaps in a once bustling downtown area, as many vacant spaces hang in limbo.
To name a few examples, Core Spaces’ plans to build a 26-story apartment building on Center Street chased away many of the block’s properties, including beloved restaurants like Easterly Hunan and Moe Sushi & Grill. The building’s development has since been halted. Similarly, the entire block of Shattuck Avenue between Allston Way and Kittredge Street was left completely vacant after Hill Street Realty’s endeavor to build an 18-story apartment building was abandoned due to high interest rates.
If not for the higher-than-usual traffic, cleaned out bookshelves, and in-your-face “90% OFF!” signs, it could’ve been any other day at the store. Customers flipped through vinyl records, peered over each other’s shoulders to meticulously scan each bookshelf, and engaged in warm conversation with the staff members they had become friendly with. They celebrated great finds: bubbling excitedly about finding Seinfeld on DVD or scoring discounted gifts for their grandchildren.
The mark of being a devoted reader — as all bibliophiles understand — is not to stop one chapter short of a painful ending, but to see a story through to the bitter end. Though Half Price Books is unlikely to exist on Shattuck again, it will persist in the memory of its readership: just like any good book would.
