More to the story of independent bookstores

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

Kings County Register

Mitzi DeWolfe, Wolfville’s Box of Delights bookstore owner for 18 years, started tearing out her hair last fall.

When the Canadian dollar matched its U.S. counterpart, the reaction among many of her customers was immediate.

“They would stand here and tell us we were purposely ripping people off every day, all day, for months,” she recalls, pointing to the front of the cash register. “Even our regular customers would raise a ruckus.”

Many book publishers did not react to the state of the dollar.

“That was a year ago,” sighs DeWolfe.

There were a few, such as Raincoast, who lowered their prices, but others, such as Random, began asking for sales in advance rather than consignment.

“Who’s making the money?” asks DeWolfe. “I understand we have a smaller population, but we’ve heard so much rigamarole.”

In Wolfville, with a recent faculty strike and the death of summer theatre, customers are lacking.

“It’s kind of snowballed. In general, it’s quieter and there’s no tourism. You can feel the effects in the community and, with dual pricing, there’s been a backlash.”

DeWolfe wishes she could get more area residents to understand the benefit of buying local – even when it comes to books.

“What’s important is what’s cheap,” she thinks. “People have a throw-out mindset.”

DeWolfe has remortgaged the business, incorporated in 1975 by Hilary Sircom, and she’s exploring subletting the basement.

“I’m an eternal optimist - but that can translate to being stupid, too,” she concludes.

Books need new selling story

Two long-established, independent bookstores in the Atlantic region, Bennington Gate in St. John’s and the Book Room in Halifax, have closed in recent months.

For 160 years, the Book Room survived wars and depressions, but internet orders and changing publisher policies are challenging traditional bookselling.

Charles Burcell, who owned the Book Room, told CBC Radio the straw that broke his store's back was the dual pricing of books. He blamed publishers for not reacting to the rising Canadian dollar. Books take about three years to reach the market, with their selling price already set. Burchell said that model is archaic.

In the most recent edition of Atlantic Books Today, an editorial writer suggests independent booksellers coast to coast are feeling the pressure of deep-pocketed big-box stores, online purchasing, the high dollar and the cost of prime real estate.

Pat Hayward, who has been in the business for four decades, said, “we need to keep being a work-in-progress style of operation, which means ever reshaping the business in order to survive,” especially outside larger centres.

In Toronto, bookstore owner Susan Delean organized a funeral for Ballenford Books. The Markham Street retailer, known for its architectural and design books, closed May 1.

"People are in this business because they love it," she told a Toronto business magazine. "It's very unusual for a bookstore to even make serious money. It always gets put back into the business."