Chapters store at Richmond and John to shut down

Times are tough for bookstores - even, it appears, for the largest booksellers in Canada.

On Monday, Indigo announced that it planned to shutter the Chapters location at Richmond and John, just one day after the World's Biggest Bookstore finally closed for good, and less than two months after the Runnymede Chapters location met a similar fate.

The company gave its 60-day notice to end the lease on the three-floor location in the Festival Hall retail complex, which it currently shares with Scotiabank Theatre and Marshalls.

The company says it plans to relocate the store and transition employees to other positions. Indigo's vice president of public relations, Janet Eger, said in a statement that the company was "actively looking for new real estate options in Oakville, downtown Toronto and Bloor West Village that will best meet our requirements."

With the intersection long dominated by the glass facade of the former chain flagship, it remains to be seen who will pounce on the space next. The Runnymede location, which shut its doors in mid-February, is set to become a Shoppers Drug Mart, while the World's Biggest Bookstore will reportedly be converted into a row of restaurants.

Photo by Tom Flemming on Flickr.