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Goodbye, Circuit City. Hello, Giant Book Sale.

Giant Book Sale recently opened up shop in a building in Greensboro once occupied by the financially troubled Circuit City, which closed all of its stores in March.

The store at 4217 W. Wendover Ave. sells books at 50 percent to 80 percent off the original list price because they were overstocked or not selling well. It’s having a grand opening special that ends today: hardbacks are $4 and paperbacks are $2.

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

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You can help out the community while saving a few bucks.

Belk, which has stores in the Triad, is having a charity sale Saturday that will feature discounts of up to 50 percent in return for a $5 donation.

Proceeds will benefit local charities, schools and nonprofits throughout the company’s 16-state market including North Carolina.

All of Belk’s stores are participating.

During the event, held from 6 p.m. to 10 a.m., shoppers get discounts from 20 to 50 percent. Certain exclusions apply.

Customers also receive $5 off their first purchase of $5 or more.

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Holy free comic books, Batman. Comic book shops across the country are celebrating Free Comic Book Day on May 2.

In Greensboro, Acme Comics at 2150 Lawndale Drive and Parts Unknown at 906 Spring Garden St. will be participating by giving away comics.

You’re not limited to just one comic book. And, yes, expect to wait in lines.

Call Acme (open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.) at 574-2263 or visit them on the Web at www.acmecomics.com.

Parts Unknown will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and can be found at 272-7060 or www.partsunknown.net.

Get more information at www.freecomicbookday.com.

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News & Record reporter Gerald Witt’s story about cheap getaways that he wrote last year is worth a second look as we approach the summer vacation season in tough economic times.

You’ll also want to check out our related Google Maps interactive, which gives you a birds-eye view of locations and information including phone numbers and Web sites.

A link to the interactive can be found at my blog, Bargain Blog, at news-record.com.

As news about Somali piracy makes headlines, one jaunt Gerald wrote about might serve as a good refresher regarding the most famous pirate of all.

The town of Bath, which is on the way to the Outer Banks, was a haunt of Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard.

Or check out Little Switzerland, a hillside town near Mount Mitchell.

“You can stay on top of the world for pocket change,” Thomas Wright, the owner of a used book store in Little Switzerland, told Gerald.

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Become Web savvy! Check out the Bargain Blog at news-record.com and subscribe to the Bargain Bytes e-newsletter at news-record.com/bargains. The free newsletter will be sent to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign up for my Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/bargainblog.

Do you have retail news or shopping tips for Savvy Shopper? Contact Mike Fuchs at 373-3465 or michael.fuchs@news-record.com