By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A family-owned bookstore chain that specializes in secondhand and discount books, movies and music will close its location here this spring.

Half Price Books Outlet, 6669 E. State St., will close on April 8, ending nearly a decade in business in Rockford. The company said there wasn’t enough customer traffic to justify continuing its lease.

“We’ve really enjoyed being in the Rockford market and have enjoyed getting to know our customers there over the years,” said Emily Bruce, public relations manager for the company. “We hope that people will stop by a number of times as we lead up to this April 8 closing date.”

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Half Price Books has 121 locations in 19 states. There are nine other locations in Illinois and five in Wisconsin. Gift cards purchased in Rockford are good at all Half Price Books locations and can be redeemed online.

“We have enjoyed serving the community since we opened our original Rockford location in October 2013,” Joe Desch, the company’s district manager, said in a letter to customers. “While we have many wonderful customers in Rockford and wish we could stay, the store has not had enough consistent traffic to justify signing another lease.”

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The letter stated that Rockford loyalty cards can be redeemed for a final discount before the store closes, but those loyalty cards are not valid at other locations or online.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.