Tweeter, Circuit City buildings get new tenants that focus on second-hand sales

[jmcnamara96]

NASHUA – It almost couldn't be more of a coincidence.

Within the same 24-hour period, two chains based on opposite coasts announced plans to open a Nashua store this winter, one moving into the old Circuit City building and another occupying the old Tweeter.

They will practically be neighbors on the Daniel Webster Highway, both filling a big void created in the city's retail corridor when two of the largest big-box retailers went bankrupt. But the real irony is in the similarity of their business models.

Both are essentially second-hand superstores with a unique business approach: They are for-profit companies that partner with local charities to serve as significant source of fundraising.

Although the stores are a far cry from their electronic-store predecessors, the timing may serve as an indication that discount, thrift and second-hand stores are about the only stores daring to expand these days.

The old Tweeter building at 293 Daniel Webster Highway is getting a makeover in preparation for its new tenant, a relatively new Massachusetts-based chain with three locations called Used Book Superstore. The Nashua store will be the first in New Hampshire and quickly followed by a second in Salem.

Owner Bob Ticehurst has signed a five-year lease for the Tweeter building, which has been vacant since the electronics chain shut down in December 2008. The book store will have a soft opening Friday at 10 a.m. and an official grand opening Jan. 22.

The old Circuit City at 224 Daniel Webster Highway will have to wait until March 18 for its new tenant, a thrift store called Savers based out of Bellevue, Wash., with more than 230 locations in the U.S., Canada and Australia. The store expects to hire 50 people locally and is holding a job fair at the store Jan. 20-22 from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Jobs include back room positions and sales floor roles, in part and full time. Applicants must apply in person.

Ticehurst, a former accountant and Marine reservist, was going for a brighter and more orderly concept than what people usually envision with used book stores when he opened the flagship Used Book Superstore in Burlington, Mass., in 2008.

"They think of used book stores as old and dark," Ticehurst said. "People say this is like a Best Buy, but all books."

The stores are huge, each with an estimated 100,000 books for sale. They have wide aisles, bright lighting and seating areas. The books are highly organized into more than 100 subcategories, according to Ticehurst, making it easier for customers to find what they need.

All books in the store cost $2.99 or less, which is why Ticehurst thinks now is an ideal time to expand.

"In this economy, it's a perfect time for us to open," he said. "Without spending a lot of money, people can walk out of here with a bag full of books."

The stores also sell DVDs, CDs, audiobooks, VHS tapes and records.

Savers operates much like a traditional thrift store, accepting clothing and household items on site or through drop boxes at local charities. However, each location picks a partner nonprofit and makes a payment to that charity for every item donated. A partner for the Nashua store has not yet been selected.

Used Book Superstore also accepts donations at the store, but most of the merchandise actually comes directly from charities and nonprofit groups. About 300 nonprofits sell books they've collected through donations and drop boxes to the store as a method of fundraising.

Ticehurst has actually been selling books since 2000, when he founded a business called Got Books to sell used titles through Web sites like eBay and Amazon. He started out small, using his home as a warehouse, but outgrew the space in six months. He has since moved seven times to accommodate his growing inventory.

The partnership with nonprofits began around 2004, Ticehurst said. The program's biggest partner is a Lowell, Mass.-based organization for adults with developmental disabilities and their families called Remarkable, Active, Resilient Adults of Greater Lowell Inc., or RARA. The organization has raised about $50,000 thus far through the program, Ticehurst said, enough to purchase a 15-passenger van.

Ticehurst now employs about 100 people through parent company Got Books and subsidiary Used Book Superstore. The Nashua and Salem stores are the fourth and fifth, following Burlington, Danvers and Saugus. The Salem store, located in the old Furniture World building at 419 South Broadway, will open Feb. 5.

Inventory in the stores changes daily. Hardbacks sell for $2.99, paperbacks cost $1.99 and children's books sell for $1.29. DVDs are $4 and CDs typically sell for less than $2.

Got Books was recognized by MassRecycle as the Recycling Green Business of the Year for keeping more than $15 million books out of the trash between 2007 and 2008. To find a list of drop off sites, visit www.gotbooks.com.

Savers has been around since 1952. The Nashua store is the company's first in New Hampshire and 16th in New England. The company partners with about 130 local non-profits and has paid them more than $1 billion since its inception. In some states, the store is known as Value Village.



Tahnks to the Nashua Telegraph

[Lastdaysofrain]

I've been to Used Book Superstore locations here in MA and it's a great store.

I noticed that the Circuit City in Portsmouth has been turned into an Ocean State Job Lot.