Central Texas’ literary scene is about to get even more lit.
For over 50 years, Dallas-founded Half Price Books has been a mainstay in the Lone Star State, selling new and used books, vinyl records, DVDs, videos and other offerings across its approximately 115-store footprint. Soon, it’ll debut its latest outpost in Texas’ capital city.
Preliminary timeline estimates anticipated construction work would wrap in October 2026, per project documents. TDLR filings are estimates and both project costs and timelines are subject to change.
The latest TDLR status of the 6,080-square-foot project is classified as “review complete.” In an emailed statement to MySA, Half Price Books president Kathy Doyle Thomas said the company has yet to determine an official opening date for the South Austin store, but confirmed crews are “working hard” to build the latest Capital City bookstore.
“Our team is working hard on the new South First Street location, but unfortunately, we don’t have a date just yet for the opening,” she said in the statement. “As for the temporary pop-up store on South Lamar, we’ve run into some permit delays with the City of Austin. Once those are resolved, we should be able to quickly open in that space. In the meantime, we hope our customers will continue to shop at our other area stores including North Lamar and Southpark Meadows.”
Alongside the building purchase poised to set the stage for the South First store, Half Price Books also bought a building at 6411 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, TX 78752, with company plans to relocate its current North Lamar location to the site at a future date.