Independent bookstores are enjoying a new chapter across the country as the market shifts from big-box bookstores to quaint, niche neighborhood stores.
This revival puts the focus back on the little things that make the book-buying experience so special for avid readers and bookstore-goers.
Writer and editor Michael Hingston noticed something was missing in Edmonton’s literary scene, which led him to open Porch Light. Books in November.
“That point of contact between the reader — you write something, you publish something, you put it out into the world and you don’t really get a response from people a lot of the time,” Hingston says of his motivation.
“There’s a certain surprise that a bookstore would be successful in this era, but I really think the pendulum has swung too far the other way,” says Hingston. “We lost a lot of department stores and a lot of people are returning to an in-person shopping experience. »
So far, the store is already proving popular with Edmontonians and Hingston says they have had a lot of pedestrians and passersby coming into the store, especially with children.
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“Our children’s section on the new side immediately doubled,” he adds.
Meanwhile, another bookstore specializing in the romance genre is also enjoying success throughout the city, even attracting visitors from all over.
“People have come from Europe to come see the store, people have come from the United States,” says Kelsey Orlecki, owner of Book Boudoir. “It’s more of a global affair. That’s what I love about the romance genre: the scope is everywhere.
Orlecki opened the store to fill what she thought was a void for the popular genre, and if her opening day success was any indication, she may have hit the mark.
“We had to wait an hour and a half the first day we opened to get into the store, so the fiction readers came looking for me,” Orlecki says.
That was 10 months ago, and Orlecki is already preparing to open a second location – a success story the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association (CIBA) says it has already heard about. There are now more than 300 small bookstores across Canada, and the organization says at least 24 new bookstores are preparing to open their doors.
CIBA Executive Director Laura Carter says it’s an exciting time to be both a bookseller and an avid book reader.
“Bookstores are opening up to serve all types of communities, from small towns in Nova Scotia to new stores popping up in major centers, which is a good thing for the health of the book sector as a whole. together, for publishers, for authors and for readers,” says Carter.
“We’re just happy to be a part of the community and do what we can to serve them.” »
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