A New Chapter: Bookworms crawl back to Canada's independent bookstores

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A New Chapter: Bookworms crawl back to Canada's independent bookstores

Independent bookstores are enjoying a new chapter across the country as the market shifts from big box bookstores back to quaint and niche neighbourhood shops.

The revival is putting the focus back on the little things that make the book-buying experience so special to avid readers and bookstore lovers.

Writer and publisher Michael Hingston noticed there was something missing from the Edmonton 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 in the world and you don't really hear back from people a lot of the time," Hingston says of his motivation.

"There's some… surprise about a bookstore making it in these times but I really think the pendulum swung too far the other way," Hingston explains. "We lost a lot of great shops, and a lot of people are reconnecting with an in-person shopping experience."

So far, the shop is already proving popular with Edmontonians and Hingston says they've welcomed a lot of foot traffic and passersby coming into the store — especially with children.

"Our kid section on the new side has doubled immediately," he adds.

Meanwhile, another niche bookstore specializing in the romance genre is also finding success across the city, even drawing visitors from far and wide.

"We've had people come from Europe to come see the store, we've had people come from the States," says Book Boudoir owner Kelsey Orlecki. "It's more of a global thing. That's what I love about the romance genre — the reach is everywhere with it."

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 an hour and a half wait on day one of us opening to get into the store, so the romance readers came through for me," Orlecki says.

That was 10 months ago, and now Orlecki is already preparing to open a second location — a success story the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association (CIBA) says they've heard before. There are now more than 300 small bookstores across Canada, and the organization says there are also at least 24 new bookstores preparing to open.

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CIBA executive director Laura Carter says it's an exciting time to be both booksellers and avid book readers.

"Bookstores are opening to service every different type of community from tiny little small towns in Nova Scotia to new stores popping up in those big centres, which is a good thing for the health of the book sector at large, for publishers, for authors and for readers," Carter says.

"We're just happy to be part of the community and do what we can to serve them."