Entertainment / Books

Tough times, but some bookstores have a different story

Toronto’s independent booksellers face challenging times but not all are feeling the pinch.

Things are looking up for Chris Szego, manager of BakkaPhoenix Books.

Aaron Harris for the / Toronto Star Order this photo

Things are looking up for Chris Szego, manager of BakkaPhoenix Books.

BakkaPhoenix, the country’s oldest science fiction and fantasy bookstore, faces many of the same challenges confronting Toronto’s other independent booksellers.

Chiefly, these include the migration of customers to big-box outlets and online retailers, where discounts abound, as well as what further erosion of business the emerging e-book market will bring.

But while some of the competition is retrenching or worse, BakkaPhoenix, which recorded a double-digit increase in sales last year, is expanding. In stark contrast to the recently shuttered This Ain’t the Rosedale Library, BakkaPhoenix is readying a fall move from the Queen St. W. location it currently rents to the larger, two-storey Harbord St. digs it has purchased.

“One of the things we were looking for was space for our community,” says Chris Szego, who has managed the store for the past decade. “We already have had science-fiction book clubs approach us to see if they can hold their meetings there.

“We want to schedule writing an reading workshops. That’s something independent bookstores can be great at. We offer community.”

The store, which has relocated a handful of times since it first opened in 1972, will set up shop in the former home of Atticus Books, a couple of doors west of Spadina and within shouting distance of the University of Toronto.

“Hopefully, we can insert ourselves quickly into the mental headspace of University of Toronto undergraduates because there’s an endless supply of those,” Szego says.

U of T undergrads also represent a potentially lucrative demographic.

“When you think about the entertainment trends of the past 10 years,” Szego reasons, “they have all been speculative in nature: the rise of online, multi-player, role-playing games, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Stephenie Meyer. And it’s not just about those books. I sell far more copies of the latest Cory Doctorow than I do the latest Stephenie Meyer.”

Joanne Saul, co-owner of Type Books, is similarly upbeat. While the small chain decided to cut its losses by closing its Danforth outlet last year, the company has expanded its two remaining stores on Queen St. near Trinity Bellwoods and on Spadina Rd. in Forest Hill. Sales slumped for much of 2009, Saul says, but picked up at Christmas and have remained buoyant through the spring.

“A successful independent bookstore has to completely and utterly cater to its community,” says Saul. “That’s something we strive to do by getting engaged with the schools near us, offering literacy programs, having weekly story time for neighbourhood preschoolers. You have to make those connections with people who support you. It’s a two-way street.”

Type’s Queen St. competition stands to be lessened somewhat, with the impending closure of a Book City outlet just east of Trinity Bellwoods. But Book City general manager Ian Donker insists the proximity of the stores was not a decisive factor.

“Sales weren’t bad but they weren’t where you would like them to be after two years of being there,” Donker says. “We had a chance to sell the building, so we thought we’d do a positive thing for our bottom line. That’s just a business decision. It’s not a reflection of the book business.”

BookNet Canada, which charts sales in Canada, has reported a slight drop in overall sales this year, after an increase in 2009. But Donker reports the trend line has been the opposite for Book City, which will continue to operate five outlets.

“It has been quite a positive year so far for a lot of our stores,” he says.

The outlook is not universally rosy by any means. This Ain’t the Rosedale Library, a storied indie that has been in business for more than 30 years, was recently locked out of its Kensington Market by its landlord over unpaid rent.

Glad Day, the landmark gay and lesbian themed bookseller, issued in an appeal for financial support in the spring. Its future remains uncertain.

“Things have improved a little bit but it’s not beyond what we’d expect for the season, given that we’re coming up to Pride Week,” says owner John Scythes. “It’s touch and go right now. I’ve had a few nice orders from academia, but that won’t run the store. The walk-in trade hasn’t changed. People come and browse here and then go home and order the book on the net.”

Scythes would like the Canadian government to follow the example of its French counterpart by limiting the discounts offered by online retailer Amazon to 5 per cent.

“I can’t blame people,” says Scythes. “It’s the kind of culture we’ve created. But is it worth it if the consequence is destroying retail book selling?”

The Canadian Booksellers Association is keenly monitoring the uncertain climate to see if there are common factors behind why some of its members are thriving, while others aren’t.

“There is a combination of complex factors,” says CBA president Mark Lefebvre, who manages Titles Bookstore at McMaster University. “What’s the rent? What’s the neighbourhood?

“We’re in very challenging times. Booksellers have to find that fine balance that gives them an edge. Maybe it’s expertise. Or maybe it’s some other factor that nobody can do as well as them.”

Taking an entirely different approach is Marc Glassman, the former proprietor of Pages Books & Magazines. Driven off Queen St. W. last year by escalating rents, the veteran bookseller has rebranded his business as Pages Beyond Bricks & Mortar.

Glassman has continued to sell books through This is Not a Reading Series, the program of regular author events he runs mainly out of the Gladstone Hotel. And, following the model established by New York’s Mobile Libris, he is setting up shop at other events, including the recent Luminato and Subtle Technologies festivals. He has a contract to sell books and DVDs at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

“I’m hanging out my virtual shingle,” Glassman says. “We’re happy to sell books at the great events that are taking place all the time in Toronto. They aren’t necessarily literary events, but events that would have books as part of the mix of what they do.

“All of the kinks haven’t been worked out, but enough of them have that it’s all do-able. Obviously, we’d all like to have our own shops, but this is a viable option.”

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