So now it's Half Price Books

Joining other location institutions suffering from the tender mercies of a landlord, according to the Chron, is Half Price Books up on the Drag. Given a choice of buying the building it leases before it goes to the highest bidder or staying on from day to day, Half Price is looking for a new "central" location. The Co-op isn't really a bookstore these days. Garner & Smith is long gone. There's no more Folk Tales. Watson & Co., next-door to the old Sweetish Hill location, is probably still remembered by few (although I enjoyed all the reminiscence of an bygone Austin of the 'seventies on this page). Congress Avenue Books went from its spacious location in the old Stephen F. Austin hotel to the other side of the street and is no more. BookWoman was driven from its downtown location and now is much less convenient. Adventures in Crime and Space lost its physical premises and may onw be defunct. Europa Books, one of a kind, is gone. Grok Books evolved into the super-ambitious BookPeople and has had to draw in its horns. How the eventual relocation of Whole Foods to its new building will affect BookPeople is anybody's guess. Austin may have grown, but it has not improved when it comes to bookstores with personality, conveniently located. Even Half Price Books was once within a hop, skip, and jump from the Capitol, sharing a building with a dry-cleaning plant.