In January, 2021, Half-Price Books shuttered its location at 3509 Montrose Blvd. – ending a near 20-year run. Now, it looks like the beloved discount book store will finally be returning to the area as the company confirmed its purchase the former Soundwaves space.
Originally opened in 1997, Soundwaves was a music, surf, and skateshop. Per the name, the venue also offered a wide, diverse selection of music. As one of the city’s largest independent stores, Soundwaves carried a catalogue of new and used CDs and records ranging from rock and indie, to metal, soul, and dance. This past April – a beat after Record Store Day – the iconic Montrose storefront closed after nearly 30 years.
A few months later, the now vacant space has found its successor. Harris County Clerk filings reveal that the Bookmoor LLC company purchased the property former Soundwaves property at 3509 Montrose Blvd. Acknowledged on June 24, and filed on July 1, the deed shows that Bookmoor LLC is tied to Half Price Books, as Bookmore LLC’s address is the same as HPBs’ headquarters in Dallas.
As reported by Chron, Kathy Doyle Thomas, president of Half Price Books, confirmed that the company purchased the former Soundwaves property.
“We’ve been trying to return to the neighborhood for years, so we were thrilled when we had the opportunity to purchase this building,” said Thomas. “We’ve heard from countless customers in the last five years how much they miss the Montrose store, so we’re looking forward to being back in the loop.”
As for the Bookmoor LLC/Half Price Books link, Half Price Books appears to have created Bookmoor LLC to buy the property and manage it as a separate real-estate asset, likely to protect its long-term investment and control future use of the site.
Thomas stated that the bookstore plans to open at the Montrose location in 2027.
