babble home
rabble.ca - news for the rest of us
today's active topics


Post New Topic  Post A Reply
FAQ | Forum Home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» babble   » rabble content   » babble book lounge   » Indie bookstores

Email this thread to someone!    
Author Topic: Indie bookstores
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 11 June 2007 07:50 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Please list some! Everyone needs alternatives to Crapters/Indiblows. Anywhere in the country is fine.

I'll start:
Toronto Women's Bookstore
rabble bookstore

Continue...


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
zak4amnesty
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10981

posted 11 June 2007 07:59 AM      Profile for zak4amnesty   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The Bookkeeper in Sarnia.

It is awesome. I worked there 6 years. Was manager, in line to buy, went crazy, and have never worked there again, altho I've tried to get hired back.

Susan Chamberlain is the owner. She has won a CBA award, and so has the store (while I was there!)


From: Chemical Valley | Registered: Nov 2005  |  IP: Logged
quelar
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2739

posted 11 June 2007 08:02 AM      Profile for quelar     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Uprising Books - the Anarchist Bookstore in Kensington. (uprising.ca doesn't seem to be working right now....Can't these Anarchists get organized??!!??)

Bakka (for Sci-fi and fantasy only, but they're still great)

Just a couple of my favourites.


From: In Dig Nation | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4140

posted 11 June 2007 08:05 AM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
McNally Robinson books has a number of locations in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary and New York City. They went "big box" even before Chapters came along to Winnipeg and did not go under as Mary Scorer books did.

Winnipeg once had a small, independent bookstore called Heaven and Art Book Cafe. Sadly, it is no more.

There are many second-hand bookstores in the city, far too many to mention.


From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 11 June 2007 08:07 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I just got something from Book City.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
bigcitygal
Volunteer Moderator
Babbler # 8938

posted 11 June 2007 08:08 AM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
In Toronto:

Pages (Queen St W)
Another Story (Roncesvalles)
This Ain't the Rosedale Library (Church St)
Toronto Women's Bookstore (Harbord St)
A Different Booklist (Bathurst St)
Book City (a few locations around the city)(it's a mini-chain, independently owned)


From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged
bigcitygal
Volunteer Moderator
Babbler # 8938

posted 11 June 2007 08:09 AM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Ha! Cross postings, AND I clearly didn't read the OP properly.
From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 11 June 2007 08:10 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
No worries! I'm glad I was right about Book City. I was pretty sure it wasn't a big chain. But there's one chain I've heard about that passes itself off as independent booksellers - I forget the name of it.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
bigcitygal
Volunteer Moderator
Babbler # 8938

posted 11 June 2007 08:12 AM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
If you mean the evil BMV, then you are correct, they are a USian chain, They just (okay they've been there for about 6 months) opened the long-abandoned huge storefront on Bloor St. just east of Brunswick. I hiss in their general direction. Ssssssss!
From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4140

posted 11 June 2007 08:14 AM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
What used to be a left/Communist bookstore is still a going concern in Vancouver. When I'm on the coast I always drop in and go for a walk up and down Commercial Drive afterwards. It's an interesting neighbourhood.

People's Co-op Bookstore


From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
N.R.KISSED
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 1258

posted 11 June 2007 06:04 PM      Profile for N.R.KISSED     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Also in Toronto

She said Boom -College E. of Bathurst and Roncesvales, south of Dundas

Pandemonium in the Junction

and Zoinks Bloor west of Dovercourt


From: Republic of Parkdale | Registered: Aug 2001  |  IP: Logged
jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401

posted 18 June 2007 05:29 AM      Profile for jrose     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
My favourites are Octopus Books and Mother Tongue Books, both in Ottawa. Now that I'm near Toronto, Pages is my usual bookstore of choice. Great books, and great staff.

[ 18 June 2007: Message edited by: jrose ]


From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006  |  IP: Logged
Caissa
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 12752

posted 18 June 2007 05:38 AM      Profile for Caissa     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Good to see Octopus is still around. I bought many books there in the mid-eighties when I was a grad student at Carleton. My favourite Indie bookstores are Tidewater Books in Sackville NB and the University Bookstore in Saint John whidch is about to open a second location on King Street in the heart of the Uptown.
From: Saint John | Registered: Jun 2006  |  IP: Logged
jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401

posted 18 June 2007 05:57 AM      Profile for jrose     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Good to see Octopus is still around. I bought many books there in the mid-eighties when I was a grad student at Carleton.

That’s how I came across it as well. There is always a core group of professors who prefer to give their business to the independent sellers and have their students walk the short walk up to the Glebe to get them, instead of giving the business to the campus bookstore monopoly. After that, I just kept going to pick up books for class, and for pleasure reading. I know they also do a fair amount of book launches and readings in their tiny premise. It’s a small, unassuming building that I probably wouldn’t notice from the street, but ever since I knew it was there I could honestly spend hours inside.


From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006  |  IP: Logged
CharlotteAshley
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11393

posted 27 June 2007 06:37 PM      Profile for CharlotteAshley   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
A plug for me and mine in Toronto:

The Bob Miller Book Room - we've been around and privately owned for a little over thirty years now. We specialize in philosophy, social sciences, literature, classics and "things which seem neat".

Charlotte


From: Toronto | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401

posted 05 August 2008 09:08 AM      Profile for jrose     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The decline in Feminist bookstores in Canada is remarkably depressing, especially while searching for book-related events to add to rabble’s book lounge. This article cites only four left in existence, at least one of which has shut its doors.
From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006  |  IP: Logged
Sven
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9972

posted 05 August 2008 10:58 AM      Profile for Sven     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by jrose:
The decline in Feminist bookstores in Canada is remarkably depressing, especially while searching for book-related events to add to rabble’s book lounge. This article cites only four left in existence, at least one of which has shut its doors.

It strikes me that the genesis of independent bookstores was based on two needs: (1) the creation of venues in which to find information not otherwise available and (2) the creation of spaces in which like-minded people could get together to share ideas and establish relationships based on a common interest.

With the advent of the Internet, sharing ideas and information no longer requires books. And, the Internet is less costly (rearranging electrons doesn’t cost nearly as much as processing trees for print), so more people can participate in information sharing (not just those few who can manage to get a book published).

And, for books that are published, it’s far more cost-effective to purchase them from independent publishers directly (rather than having to build/lease and operate/heat/light brick-n-mortar buildings).

The second goal can still be achieved (and is achieved)—without having the concern of keeping a business out of the red—through other activities. Meeting at a bookstore, per se, is not essential for that to occur.

As an aside, I have a hard time going to bookstores anymore (I particularly used to love to thumb through books in used bookstores). It used to be that going into a brick-n-mortar used bookstore was the only way I could find good, used books. Now, I rely almost exclusively on abebooks.com (a world-wide network of about 30,000 booksellers, few of whom operate a walk-in store). If a book was published, it’s very likely available from an independent seller on that site (and usually available from many such sellers). I can usually select from scores of books under the same title and make a decision based on the books’ relative condition and price.


From: Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!!! | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
bigcitygal
Volunteer Moderator
Babbler # 8938

posted 05 August 2008 11:28 AM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
As delightful as your uninformed and consistently anti-independent-bookstore scribes are, Sven, you are incorrect about the role and importance they have played for the past several decades in Canada and the U.S. and still do play, for those who wish to engage in community. There is more to community than the internet, if one chooses. So you don't. Fine.

Independent and small bookstores have always been places for lesser known authors to develop an audience. Forgoing the lefty slant, they have been and are places for communities, and neighbourhood communities, to connect. Specialty bookstores have cultivated specific audiences, through in-person interactions (I know, I'm so 20th century). This is not at all the same as the internet, including sites like rabble.

As for purchasing, it depends. If you know exactly what title you want, then it may be cheaper to purchase directly from the publisher. However many small publishers charge shipping fees. Which if one is ordering all their books online one will be paying anyways.

If all you want is the cheapest, then you will get the world that you deserve. Walmart anyone?

[ 05 August 2008: Message edited by: bigcitygal ]


From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged
Sven
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9972

posted 05 August 2008 12:10 PM      Profile for Sven     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by bigcitygal:
Specialty bookstores have cultivated specific audiences, through in-person interactions (I know, I'm so 20th century). This is not at all the same as the internet, including sites like rabble.

quote:
Originally posted by bigcitygal:
There is more to community than the internet, if one chooses.

I completely agree that in-person interaction is important—vital, actually. In fact, I think that Internet-only interaction, despite the doors of communication that it opens, can, ironically, be very isolating. The Internet is a useful tool but nothing creates human connections like interacting in person. My only quibble is that the independent bookstore is not uniquely and necessarily the best place for that to occur. But, that’s a matter of opinion and preference (and, given the decline of independent bookstores, that may be the opinion of more than just me).

quote:
Originally posted by bigcitygal:
As for purchasing, it depends. If you know exactly what title you want, then it may be cheaper to purchase directly from the publisher.

That’s the downside of not going to a brick-n-mortar bookstore: It’s more difficult to simply browse and find something by chance. But, if you know what you want, finding the best price is easy on the ‘net. It’s definitely a trade-off.

quote:
Originally posted by bigcitygal:
If all you want is the cheapest, then you will get the world that you deserve. Walmart anyone?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have unlimited financial resources. So, I look for what I want/need (first) and then try to find the best price (second). I rarely look for what is simply the cheapest—particularly in books!

quote:
Originally posted by bigcitygal:
...your uninformed and consistently anti-independent-bookstore scribes...

I’m not “anti” independent bookstores. I’m an independent bookstore agnostic. If people want them in enough numbers, then they will be there. If not, they won’t.


From: Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!!! | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
bigcitygal
Volunteer Moderator
Babbler # 8938

posted 05 August 2008 12:33 PM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Sven: If people want them in enough numbers, then they will be there. If not, they won’t.

Spoken like a free marketeer.

You have no idea the illegal activities the big box stores in Canada and the U.S. have done in order to ensure that they will dominate the market. This is not a simple case of the theory of capitalism, which is flawed anyways.

Independent bookstores have declined because corporate bookstores use techniques such as loss leaders, unlimited and damaged returns, deeply discounted books that they actually lose money on, delayed payments to publishers to the tune of 6 months to a year, poorly paid non-unionized staff, many of the classic ways in which corporate owners run business to maximize profits. The problem with this model in this instance is that books (in Canada for sure, I'm less knowledgeable about the US) are hugely subsidized by government grants and funding: the markup on books is miniscule, compared to other retail such as clothing. This is not an industry that has huge profit margins, hence why Indiglo sells all those lifestyle products such as candles and yoga mats.


From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 05 August 2008 01:34 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Oh, bigcitygal, please. It's "Indiblow".
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401

posted 05 August 2008 03:09 PM      Profile for jrose     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
"Indiblow" and "Crapters," I might add.
From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006  |  IP: Logged
bigcitygal
Volunteer Moderator
Babbler # 8938

posted 05 August 2008 06:18 PM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Thanks to Michelle and JRo for their corrections. What was I thinking?
From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged

All times are Pacific Time  

Post New Topic  Post A Reply Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
Hop To:

Contact Us | rabble.ca | Policy Statement

Copyright 2001-2008 rabble.ca