I’ve been a bit out of the loop with local news lately and so missed last month’s announcement that local bookstore chain Book Warehouse would be closing. You can read the owner’s statement at the Book Warehouse website but I assume that may not be around forever so here it is in full, recorded for posterity.
Dear friends and customers,
Our leases are expiring and so are we. For many years we’ve had a fantastic time bookselling. We’re leaving with no regrets and many, many happy memories of customers, books and colleagues. In particular, I cannot say enough about the support, encouragement and friendship our landlords have given us throughout.
For many years it has been our privilege to be your bookseller in the Lower Mainland. We have been truly blessed to be welcomed into our neighbourhoods and we’ve enjoyed every year we’ve been here.
I would like to express thanks to the many booksellers who have served you so well over the years. We’ve had our joys and even tragedies but throughout we have had a rich and rewarding experience serving you. On behalf of all the Book Warehouse people who have built relationships with you I would like to thank you for all your support over the years. We won’t forget you, and we hope you will remember us as fondly as we will remember you.
Please enjoy our closing sale, and please take the time to chat with us. We’re going to miss you!
Sharman King
This message is much more positive than the “We are doomed” one Duthie’s posted when they closed shop two years ago and that reflects on King’s general optimism. In the end it wasn’t enough to keep the 32 year old enterprise going as the book market undergoes a sea change with ereaders and companies like Amazon changing the way people get books.
I shopped at Book Warehouse semi-regularly, visiting the reference section for books on writing, nabbing the occasional bestseller (always discounted by at least 20%) or something from the fiction section. The staff were always friendly, ready to help and the atmosphere was relaxed. With most of my reading shifting to ebooks I can’t honestly say I’ll miss Book Warehouse in a practical sense but I will miss having the opportunity to walk in and look over the new releases and end up buying something I didn’t even know had existed. That tangible contact, being able to pick up a book and examine its cover, read the blurb, it wasn’t magical or anything, really, but it was nice and now one of my most-frequented places to do this will soon be another memory.
Charlie Smith has written an excellent reminisce for the Georgia Straight. Read it here.
