So long, Pages

jrose wrote:

This might be a good thread to discuss independent bookstores in general. Among my favourites are Octopus Books (Ottawa) and Bryan Prince Bookseller (Hamilton).

Not to be overlooked, one of the best: Furby House Books.

You could drop into the bookstore after coming to Estival on Saturday August 1st. A totally unique event not to be missed. Mike Yap is one of a kind, and we're so lucky to have him.

Their stuff was overpriced but they had things you couldn't get easily elsewhere. Another dead cultural canary in the Canadian coalmine.

Marc is a friend of mine, I ran into his brother scouting possible locations months ago.

Moving costs, it costs up front, it costs in losing customers, both in simple change and in new location draw.  Location matters to booksellers, the Bakka 2nd store they opened on Yonge north of Bloor went bust.  John Rose could keep one store going on Yonge St., the new owners have moved back to Queen St. (west of Bathurst).

Frankly, the transformation of Queen W over the last 30 years is not a socially desirable result.

Thanks for your comments jrootham and Catchfire.

As a former bookseller I will share that monthly income is based on what is known in terms of sales and projected sales, and a new location would not have knowable/predictable cash flow/income levels for at least a year or two. Despite the facts of name-recognition and that some people would certainly follow Pages wherever it went.

In the past 3 years both Another Story and This Ain't the Rosedale Library moved from longstanding locations to new ones. But the difference is both of their moves were planned, scheduled, budgeted for (including of course some down time for packing, moving and unpacking). Bookstores have such tight finances that this would have had to be planned and researched meticulously beforehand, unless the rent was so much cheaper in the new locations, but still, it's costly. 

Pages has known about the rent increase for a while, and though I don't know Marc personally, I assume he did all the steps to look for new locations.

And Marc is right about the neighbourhood. Friends of mine say they now have no reason to go to that part of Queen Street any longer. 

Just to be clear, Pages is closing. They have not declared bankruptcy, like many other independent booksellers in Canada have done in the years since the Crapters encroachment. My guess is that Glassman simply assessed the financial viability of moving and it came up on the "not so much" side of the ledger. 

Just reactivating this because the day is drawing closer.

Quote:

AFTERWORD: A Celebration of 30 Years: To Mark the Closing of Pages Books and Magazines

For the past thirty years, Pages Books & Magazines has been a place where the culturally engaged citizens of Toronto met one another, conspired, fell in love, debated aesthetics and, occasionally, bought books. The Pages Art Window was the site of a landmark censorship case. And the shop helped Proprietor Marc Glassman and former staffer Shaun Smith co-create the popular literary event program, This Is Not A Reading Series (TINARS). Skyrocketing rent, not a drop in sales, has forced Glassman to close the celebrated bookstore at Queen and John streets on August 31.

To mark the occasion, many of the artists and thinkers whose work graced Pages' shelves over the past three decades will deliver short tributes to Glassman and his iconic indie institution, at "Afterword: A Celebration of 30 Years".

Come, raise a glass with such notable friends of Pages as Eldon Garnet, Greg Gatenby, Mark Kingwell, Barbara Klunder, Andy Paterson, Seth and Alana Wilcox - to name but a few. Canadian Comedy Award winners Monkey Toast will be perform improvised comedy based on your stories about Pages. The evening will be structured like a virtual tour of the store, and conclude where it all began thirty years ago: Glassman's office. -

A This Is Not A Reading Series event presented by Coach House Books, Spacing Magazine, Gladstone Hotel, NOW Magazine, and Take Five On CIUT.

Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen St West, Toronto

Tues. Sept 8; 7:30 pm (Doors 7pm) Free.

Pages Books & Magazines / This Is Not A Reading Series

Long known as 'stuffy books' Duthies expanded to answer the perceived threat from Chapters, then contracted to one store then stagnated.

Questionable buying decisions such as tonnes of children's books in a neighbourhood with relatively few children, high prices when Book Warehouse a block away offered 20% off new bestsellers, whoever was steering the ship just had no clue.

Another sad loss... Mother Tongue Books, Ottawa's feminist bookstore, will be closing after 18 years.

[url=http://celebratemothertongue.ca/]Help us wind down the store[/url]

Quote:

We have been blessed to be able to support the ideals, dreams and struggles of others. It is deeply gratifying, and humbling to have been part of our customers’ lives. We have built up a very loyal community – we appreciate you more than you can know!

Still, there are many others who love the “idea” of small, neighbourhood bookshops, and other local businesses, but who no longer shop in them. The scales have tipped in the past 5 or 6 years. The “ideal” life of bookselling is outweighed by financial and emotional exhaustion. In short, we are tired! For us, this little shop no longer translates into a sustainable business model or a way to serve our community. We have other things we need and want to do!

[url=http://womensbookstore.com/uncategorized/end-of-an-era-important-message... of an Era – Important Message to the TWB Community[/url]

Quote:

It is with a mix of sadness and resignation that I inform you all that The Toronto Women’s Bookstore (TWB) will be closing on Friday, November 30th.

I have thousands of them in my house that are alive and well. Some I would like to give to a good home. They are all spayed and neutered.  

Good to see you Sven.

Actually Catchfire I doubt if using them for toilet paper would constitute going to a good home.

Caissa wrote:

I have thousands of them in my house that are alive and well. Some I would like to give to a good home. They are all spayed and neutered.  

Good to see you Sven.

Good to "see" you, too, Caissa!

I love books.  I particularly enjoy the smell and feel of old books.

But paper books and paper-book stores will go the way of livery stables.  It's just the way things go.  Times changes.  Habits change.  Interests change.

For someone my age, email is still a pretty remarkable tool.  I use it for work and for pleasure every day.  But, my young nieces and nephews?  They rarely use email.  When I send them an email, I'll send them a text to let them know I've sent them an email...otherwise, they may not see my email message for days or weeks...if at all.

Email doesn't have the long and glorious history of books...but its decline as a medium of communication is somewhat illustrative.  Times change.  Ways of communicating change.

Paper books are not immune to those changes.

Oh, there will still be "craft books" produced long into the future.  But, within a couple of generations, the paper book will be dead as a principle medium for reading.  And, with the death of paper books will come the death of paper-book stores.

The E reader on my smartphone (free download) rivals anything I could buy strictly for reading (I even have the program on my tablet and mp3 player)

I was watching Take This Waltz Sarah Polley's new movie that was filmed in Toronto, and her main character walks around with a Pages bag. Was awesome, then all too sad. 

Collateral damage: Spartacus Books fight against Vancouver's incessant gentrification

It's election day in B.C., an electoral bout that has seemingly come down to, yet again, voting for the perceived lesser evil and trying to get some change a-brewing.

In this case, it seems like there is a hard push among the progressively minded to first and foremost get the Liberals out by means of putting the NDP in. As many have noted though, the NDP are not a cure all solution for what ails BC, particularly in the housing crises and ramped gentrification of Vancouver and the DTES area, but it begs the question: So, what is going on in Vancouver?

Vancouver is seeing an increased attack on independent arts and culture outlets in the city and though electoral voting can lessen an immediate danger, it unfortunately is not the magic solution nor can it foster the change necessary for a city to start believing in and supporting its citizens and local independent businesses.

Spartacus Books undoubtedly provides a social space for community organizing and engagement as well as a climate of alternative media and books that is being swept away in the larger trend of Canadian independent bookstores. So what do they do -- do they fight, can they fight and will this fight do anything?

Spartacus Books is choosing to fight and they're making that fight public.

They've issued a request on their Facebook page to help "support your local radical book store" and "help us stay alive" and an eviction announcement on their website to spread awareness of the ongoing gentrification of Vancouver and to help them out in their cause.  "We want Spartacus Books to still exist three months from now, so our immediate concern is to cover the costs of moving to a new location and books sales and donations are the best way to do that."

With moving the only viable and logical option, Jeff continues "We are actively looking for a new space. Rent is obviously a big concern -- most bookstores struggle to get by these days, and rent in Vancouver is ridiculously high. We are definitely planning to find a new home and keep on doing what we do. We have free computers and internet, a free public phone that's available 24 hours a day and we're an open and inclusive space for everyone. That's something that our friends and neighbours value about us. If we have to leave the neighbourhood there will be one less public space for people in the DTES."

Oh look, it's babble's own (and rabble.ca Books Ed.) Kaitlin McNabb!

Yes, it has become really hard to even find independents anymore, and then independents that are able to sell books they want.

Octopus Books always springs to mind, as well as Spartacus and People's Coop -- they are able to exist selling the books they want to sell.

I live down the street from Politics and Prose (and a library!) so I feel spoiled in that regard.

WHOA

Spartacus Books is reporting on their twitter and facebook that they are no longer being renovicted and their lease has been reinstated! 

Kerry Grant (the asset manager for AARTI Investments which now owns our building) came into the store today to tell us that our lease is being reinstated, and we're NOT being EVICTED!

He specifically mentioned that they weren't expecting such a fuss and were just looking to run a "nice place". He also asked us to take the "IS BEING RENOVICTED" banner down... i wonder if our neighbor, Dan's Homebrewing Supplies, would like to borrow it now? ;)

In any case, thank you for all your support! The online articles and outcry from the community has certainly helped, and the Spartacus collective deeply appreciates all the love we've been receiving since the bad news broke out.

Gentrification continues in the DTES and people are still being displaced, but our resistance has (temporarily) stalled these developers from having their way! Keep fighting capitalism, and hope to see you at our upcoming 40th anniversary celebrations! 

This is unbelievable! And warms my heart a bit for Canadian bookstores and Vancouver not being a total asshole of a city.

Obviously, a small step, but still, yay! Social outcry did something!

Awesome!!!