Midnight Special hopes to reopen.(Help Needed)(Brief Article)

Forced out by rent hikes, the Midnight Special bookstore closed its 5,000-square-foot location on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica on February 24. The store plans to move although it has no new location yet. The site is one of the most expensive commercial retail areas in Southern California. Moreover, bookstore competition is fierce: along the promenade are a 42,000-sqare-foot Barnes & Noble and a 30,000-sqare-foot Borders.

"We do not as yet have a new place, but we have made offers to several building owners and are hopeful," owner Margie Ghiz said in an e-mail. "Wherever we move, our rent could at least double, and our expenses, at least initially, will …