Acres Packed With Bargains As Shop Prepares For Closing

By Kurt Helin
Editor

The treasures often found at Acres of Books cost a little bit less now.

But that is a bittersweet thing for the loyal patrons of the 74-year-old bookstore downtown — the savings are due to a closing sale.

Acres of Books was closed for two days last week and now is in the middle of a big sale, one that will go on “until we run out of books,” according to employees.

Last weekend, the store was packed as people shopped for bargains.

Bertrand Smith’s Acres of Books is an old-style bookstore that has been a draw for bibliophiles from throughout Southern California since it opened in 1934. It has been at its current location for more than 40 years.

That location is on a block where the Redevelopment Agency has planned an “art exchange” building that will have galleries, artists’ lofts and more. The RDA has purchased the land on the entire block, although Acres of Books could remain in place (rent free) until next April.

Co-owner Jackie Smith has said that she was looking for a new home for Acres of Books. That search apparently has stopped.

Moving this store would have been a daunting task.

The Long Beach Boulevard space is packed with aisles and aisles of books, maybe about 700,000 titles, Smith has estimated.

There are used books in every category: fiction, history, children, self-help, anime and more.

The store also has a number of rare and out-of-print books that draw in people trying to find things that are found nowhere else.

Last month, author Ray Bradbury spoke at Acres of Books and decried its closure, saying that these were the types of stores that need to be preserved.P>