Half Price Books
4250 East Towne Boulevard, Madison
book store
Ownership
Half Price Books is a family-owned new and used bookstore founded in 1972 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Pat Anderson's daughter, Sharon Anderson Wright, is the company's current CEO. While family-owned, it operates more than 120 stores in 19 states, making it a substantial corporate chain rather than a local or independent operation.
Local Sourcing
Half Price Books purchases a majority of its products directly from customers at over a hundred retail locations spread across the United States. Additionally, many of the used books, music, and movies for sale in each location are purchased from local residents. This model inherently creates local sourcing, though it also purchases new goods from brokers located primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Community Involvement
Each year, every Half Price Books store holds a book drive to collect new or gently used children's books, building 'Half Pint Libraries' at non-profit organizations and schools in the communities it serves. HPB serves the local community by accepting donation requests from educators and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that promote literacy. However, these appear to be company-wide programs rather than Madison-specific initiatives.
Local Workforce
Employee reviews are mixed. Half Price Books has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars on Glassdoor based on 717 reviews, indicating most employees have a good working experience. However, some booksellers report not being paid a liveable wage and receiving only 3% wage increases yearly. Unionization efforts have occurred at multiple locations, including a 2023 strike at Minnesota stores with unfair labor practice charges.
Revenue Retention
The corporate office is located in Dallas, Texas, and the company is a large multi-state chain. As a major corporate retail chain with centralized corporate ownership and operations, revenue flows primarily to the Dallas-based headquarters rather than staying in Madison or Wisconsin communities.
Local Presence
No website available to analyze.