PHOTO by DANIEL DE BOOM

Mark your calendars in black ink: Acres of Books–Long Beach’s oldest, most thoroughly-, intriguingly-stocked store of used literature–will begin a discount sale of its stock this Thursday.

And how long will the sale go? “‘Til we run out of stuff to sell,” says Jackie Smith, who owns the store with her husband Philip–grandson of its founder, Bertrand Smith.

The store is closed until Thursday in preparation for the sale–which, as you’re no doubt aware, comes because the city has purchased the Acres building for $2.8 million using eminent domain, and intends to replace it with a mixed-use retail-residential development.

That development will someday encompass the entire Broadway Block: from Third Street to Broadway, and from Long Beach Boulevard to Elm Avenue.

But why would a bookstore sell its stock? The Smiths have always said they hoped to relocate elsewhere in Long Beach–or, barring that, just elsewhere–and you can’t have a bookstore without books.

“We’re looking,” Jackie Smith said. “But it’s getting basically hopeless. Anything affordable is undoable. So we’re just going to sell until we don’t have anything worth selling.”

Will they find something?

“I doubt it,” Smith said. “If something amazingly wonderful falls into our lap, we’ll probably stop the sale. But I don’t think that’s likely.”

According to the terms of the store’s sale to the city, Acres has until May 1, 2009 to vacate its longtime digs at 240 Long Beach Blvd.

But Smith said the store may not last that long. They’ll consider closing the store, she said, “When we don’t make enough to pay the light bill three days in a row.”

Sadly, the summer months are the most expensive time to keep the lights on at Acres; Smith said that’s when electricity rates rise, elevating the store’s electric bill to around $700 a month.

And yes, that’s without air conditioning. There is no air conditioning, thank you. This is a 1924 building, and air conditioning has not been added. A line of graffiti, however, has.

Scrawled across the outside of the store’s back wall are the words “Lowenthal 452″ in black paint–possibly a reference to the store’s Long Beach City Council representative, Second District Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, and to author Ray Bradbury’s famous novel, Fahrenheit 451.

“Have you seen the graffiti?” Jackie Smith asked. “I had nothing to do with it.”

Details of the sell-a-thon are still being worked out according to Josh Farley, a senior consultant at G. A. Wright Marketing, Inc., of Denver, which is helping the Smiths administer the sale.

But it will include such giveaways as a high-definition TV, a wine refrigerator, and an MP3 player–none of which were invented when Acres of Books opened in 1934.

There’s no bookstore like this in his native Kansas City, Farley said.

“Probably not to this scale. I can almost certainly say that,” Farley said, mopping the sweat from his brow. “It’s a wonderful store.”

Employee Jedediah Laub-Klein agrees, naturally.

“Sad,” said Laub-Klein, a Cal State Long Beach student, when asked how he’s bearing up. “But I’m getting over it. I’m making a film about this place. I already have an idea what I want to do. I shot two hours of film yesterday in Hobo Alley.”

Hobo Alley is on its way out, too.

Tags: acres of books, Broadway Block, cal state long beach, California, Denver, discount sale, Fahrenheit 451, G.A. Wright Marketing, Hobo Alley, Inc., Jackie Smith, Jedediah Laub-Klein, Josh Farley, Long Beach, Philip Smith, ray bradbury, Second District Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, Southern California, The District Weekly, Theo Douglas