Half Price Books in Fremont, CA: A Great Local Recycled Book Store

I have some dear friends of mine that live in Fremont, CA. I am there twice a week, both Friday night and then again on Saturday morning, for various bowling leagues. I spend a lot of time in Fremont, but never got a chance to visit my friend's favorite bookstore, Half Price Books. They have always praised this store, but I am finicky when it comes to a used bookstore. I love recycled bookstores because not only can I buy a 'new' to me book, but also I feel it is giving back to the local communities. The locals bring in the books they are done with and trade out for 'new ones'. The idea is great but many in the Bay Area are overpriced and under stocked. I have my favorite recycled bookshops and I stick to those, but one day that all changed.

My son has discovered the chapter book "Captain Underpants" and wants to collect the entire series. We were in Fremont, as usual, a few Saturdays ago and decided to purchase another new book for him. We went to several stores and searched, but could not find the right one from the series. My son was very disappointed. Then I remembered Half Price Books. It is located at 43473 Boscell Rd Fremont, CA 94538, in the Pacific Commons area. We drove to it and have now made it our favorite recycled bookstore.

When you walk in, any employee that is close to the entrance immediately welcomes you. No matter what they are doing, they look up, smile and welcome you in. The store itself is not as large as many of the mainstream bookstores, but that is fine with us. It is large enough to have a huge variety of books but small enough to have that 'home' feel to it. You won't find big comfy chairs or a coffee bar in this bookstore, but you will find kids giggling while their parents read to them in the back of the store. We eventually wandered to the children's book area and didn't find the one book my son wanted; we found three! Not only did he get three Captain Underpants books, but my daughter picked out her favorite NickJr character "ni hao, kai-lan" book, my husband picked up an Elf Bowling video game and I got the complete Voltron series on DVD. We were all able to pick up books, video games and DVDs of our favorites, all in the same place for a great price. I recommend this store to anyone who loves books and loves fair deals.

It wasn't until I did a web search on Half Price Books, for research, when I found out that they are nationwide. When you enter this store, the feel you get is like entering a friend's home, not a chain store. To find a location near you, click here. I hope your experience is as great as ours. Happy Shopping!

Sources:

Personal Experience
www.halfpricebooks.com
www.scholastic.com/captainunderpants/
www.nickjr.com
www.voltron.com