As local book-lovers mourn the looming loss of Long Beach’s famous Acres of Books, the store yesterday announced a closing sale that will begin this week.
Acres will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare, and reopen on Thursday to kick off the sale. Here is the release that was sent out by management:
To All our loyal friends and customers:
We would like to inform you of our store closing sale which will begin at 10:00A.M. on July 17th .
We will be closed Monday July 14 through Wednesday July 16th to prepare for this event.
Everything will be priced to sell and there will be several outstanding prizes given away during the sale.
Thank You for your loyalty through the years,
Acres of Books
The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency acquired the Acres site in early April of this year, buying the land for $2.8 million. The site and surrounding properties in the block of Long Beach Blvd. and Third Street are part of the city’s anticipated Broadway Block development. Acres has been a Long Beach fixture for 74 years and was honored as a city historical landmark in 1990. The store was given until May of 2009 to vacate, but the sale is a likely indicator that Acres will leave us long before that deadline.
Acres has received unwavering support from the local community as well as the far-reaching literature community, demonstrated by a public plea from Ray Bradbury a few weeks ago. The famous author who penned classics such as The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451 shared his most personal memories of Acres and argued for it to remain open. See the video below: