Time Running Out to Save Pages
There are just over two months left to save Pages Books & Magazines. Voted the Best Bookstore in Toronto by readers of this site, Pages has been an integral part of the fabric of the Queen West neighbourhood since it set up shop at Queen and John back in 1979.
In recent years, we've all watched how many of the once thriving indie shops on Queen have been forced out by escalating rents and replaced by the who's who of Canadian and multinational chains like H&M, Zara, Aritzia, Lululemon and, ughh, Crocs. Their appearance has changed the integrity and character of the once uber cool stretch between University and Spadina. It was small consolation that places like Pages and The Horseshoe remained but now there's a very real possibility that Pages will be lost.
The plight of Pages has not gone unnoticed. Both the Toronto Star and The Globe & Mail have penned articles in the last two months about the situation. There's now also a Facebook Group, Save Pages Books, that is doing what it can to rally fans of the store. They've posted an email they sent to Councillor Adam Vaughan's office (as well as their response) as well as a letter written by Joanne Cohen, a member of the Church/Wellesley Village BIA.
Pages founder Marc Glassman is heartened by their response. He doesn't know either Ms. Cohen or Faith McGregor (who created the Facebook Group) but appreciates their efforts to raise awareness and encourage Councillor Vaughan's office to exert whatever influence they can to resolve the situation.
And by "resolve the situation", it appears that the only real hope is for landlord Pinedale Properties to change their mind about raising the rent, or at the very least allowing Pages to stay for one more year under the terms of the current lease. In fact, Glassman has asked for this concession but isn't sure Pinedale will agree. According to Glassman, Pinedale feels market rates for the property could be $400,000 a year, about double what Pages is currently paying. And like any business, it's rational for Pinedale to maximize their profits and lease out the space at a price point they feel the market will support.
But all this doesn't bode well for the future of Pages and, likewise, the Queen West neighbourhood. Local businesses (including Pages) have recently formed a Business Improvement Association (BIA) to help "improve the retail environment on Queen West", but even this initiative isn't likely to affect Pages situation.
The reality is that Pages negotiated what could be considered a very favourable lease ten years ago so the only way Pinedale would agree to not raise the rent would be out of some altruistic gesture to save what is arguably Toronto's most-loved bookstore and to win points with Councillor Vaughan, the Mayor and concerned citizens of Toronto.
Glassman is hopeful but not necessarily optimistic that Pages can be saved. Much has been made of him finding a new location for Pages, but he's been looking for two years and doesn't expect to find anything over the next two months that's somehow eluded him for the past 24. From Leslieville to Parkdale to St. Clair West, he's encountered landlords that he believes are asking way too much, and doesn't feel that even a reduced rent in any of those locations would necessarily make the business sustainable given their lower retail foot traffic compared to Queen and John.
The reality as well is that Pages isn't exactly a business on the rise. Sales of books have declined each of the past two years and I doubt anyone who knows anything about the challenges faced by independent booksellers would project a reversal of this trend.
For myself and undoubtedly many of Pages' fans, the Queen West mainstay has been more than just a bookstore. They have created an incredibly invaluable community environment and have contributed greatly to the arts and cultural landscape of Toronto.
Here's hoping they will be saved. If you feel so too, contact Councillor Vaughan's office and encourage him to continue to do what he can to help resolve the situation. Or appeal directly to Pinedale and let them know what you think.
Comments (34)
SAD. Will probably be turned to some Abercrombie and Bitch, or American Eagle store or "gasp" an Apple store. I mean with Starbucks, MuchMusic and other mega chains on the street what could you expect. Pages has to compete with the Chapters down the street. I always thoughtthis part of queen was like an outdoor shopping mall. There is nothing cool about this part of queen anymore. Sorry to break it to ya.
I hate to see neighbourhood establishments leave but this is the reality of todays economy.
And besides, they're not leaving for good, their moving!(*just like artists moved away from Queen and Spadina to Queen and Jameson) I wish Pages well in their location. They're a great store.
It's sad to see them go, but lots of bookstores are doing ok. I don't see why there should be any charity. It's a business! And who is going to come up with additional $200,000 a year?
I'm not sure where you're getting your info from but I just talked to Marc Glassman today and he has not found a new location, as I indicated in the post.
This part of Queen Street turned into the Eaton Centre a long time ago. Pages is a destination, so it could be moved to an area with lots of empty stores (say, Dundas west of Bathurst) and they would draw the customers. If they combined with a cafe, a gallery or a design store and you could have a drake hotel-type anchor. Even better - they could move into a building that doesn't look like a concrete bunker. Theres lots of upsides to moving away from Queen and John.
I don't know if I agree that they could be located anywhere. They might need somewhere with a bit more retail traffic than Dundas West. But I do like your idea about combining the store with a cafe or gallery concept. I guess that's sort of the Indigo model (the cafe part anyway) but would work SO MUCH BETTER with something of the vibe of I Deal Coffee instead of Starbucks.
To Tim: I never said I "knew" where Pages was moving to, i was simply wishing them well on their future move. And that they weren't shuting down for good, simply moving.
And what's wrong with moving locations anyway? If you can't pay the rent, you can't pay the rent. That's the reality. Don't blame Pages or myself, blame the big box stores that have come in and made Queen West look like the Eaton Centre. Trust me, i'm not a fan of them myself.
"Don't blame Pages or myself, blame the big box stores that have come in and made Queen West look like the Eaton Centre"
It seems like you are all doing a very good job of disguising your contempt for the people who shop at big box stores as disdain for the stores themselves.
I like this store, but if it is really "an incredibly invaluable community environment" and has "contributed greatly to the arts and cultural landscape of Toronto", it should be able to survive at another location, Dundas West or elsewhere. If it can't, then perhaps you overstate its importance?
While I agree that it's a shame that Pages can't really make a go of it anymore, an effective $200,000/year revenue shortfall means it's just not a viable business. We shouldn't be trying to use poltiical pressure to put it on life support.
If you honestly don't shop at retail giants like ChaptersIndigoColesWhatever, you've got a right to be upset. For everyone else -- which I suspect is basically everyone -- your dollars have spoken for you. Local flavour and independent business is just not as desirable as corporate brands or a bargain price.
We've all been complicit in the rise of the mega-chain and the big box. The problem is you, it's me and it's everyone else. Admit it, and stop all this hypocritical bellyaching.
But Book City does fine in the Annex, Beaches, Danforth and Yonge, doesn't it? Maybe Pages is just a less succesful business. What annoys me about both is that there is nowhere to sit and peruse what I am interested in. Chapters/Indigo, for all its faults, has that (though seems to have reduced it). With printed matter as expensive as it is in Canada, it is churlish to force me to make a buying decision on my feet - I do, by walking out.
jamesmallon:
Book City has also been operating for a long, long time in Bloor West Village, where rents are very high.
I don't see the need to support the independent book stores over Chapters/Indigo. You prefer the independent coffee shop or restaurant over the corporate chains? Fair enough. They may provide a distinct product and unique environment that the big box stores cannot. But a book store? Chapters/Indigo sell the same books for the most part. Sure I can't get Mein Kampf or a few other magazines I probably wouldn't read anyway. I usually do my research now before buying a book so I know what I want when I go in. And quite frankly I prefer the anonymity of the big box stores. I can use the online kiosk to find what I want and leave. I don't need the book store equivalent of Comic Book Guy to tell me about the last book he read just as I don't care for Heather's Picks.
People need to stop crybabying about rents increasing.
Move the store further west or Dundas or wherever. And everybody who claims to be a fan of the store will still make the effort to shop there. Right? Righhhhhhhhhhhht?
Queen between University and Spadina is lost. It has been Eaton Centrified. Everybody's just going to have to get over it.
Have you actually been inside an independent bookstore before, or are you just making silly assumptions here?
You say you have to "research" before you buy a book? Why not ask the (usually) knowledgeable staff for information? They know their shit, and they won't talk your ear off about "the last book they read" because they know better than that - unless you ask, of course. Do you know why they have those "kiosks" in those bigger stores? Because most of the staff don't know jack-shit about anything. If you really dislike human interaction in intimate retail spaces that much (as you're implying) than perhaps the big box stores are a better option for you.
I prefer independent book sellers to Chapters/Indigo. However, the few times I have gone Pages, I was treated like crap by the staff and ended up purchasing the books at Chapters. If I'm going to pay a premium for a book, I need to be getting better service. Pages did not provide that at all.
@badbhoy
It may not seem like a necessary thing to support an indie bookshop on the surface, but there are many good reasons to do it.
1) Chapters/Indigo have a virtual monopoly in retail bookselling in Canada. They control something in the range of 70% of the market, and as such can & do wield detrimental power over the publishing industry. They have in the past put publishers out of business with their poor business practices, and for the last few years they have been slowly decreasing their selection of books to give floor space to gift products that generate higher margins. This is not good for publishers, writers, consumers or the country's culture.
2) Indie bookstores tend to be neigbourhood-based. As such, they function like community hubs, where local people can meet and engage with culture and with each other. Big box tends to crush mom & pop operations like Pages, and as a result, the community is weakened due to the anonymity that you so prize. One might look at Pages and argue that Chapters didn't crush them, and while it is true that they survived the placement of a Chapters store near their location (largely because of Chapters' incompetence as booksellers), it is the overall trend towards big-box and chain retail along Queen West that is forcing their rent up.
3) Stores like Pages are more than just mom & pop operations. Pages is one of the shops that made Queen West what it is -- or rather, what it was. (Now, sadly, it is just the Eaton Center without a roof.) Pages is one of the last hold-outs of many shops, businesses, bars and restaurants along Queen West that turned it into a counter-culture/alt/indie (whatever term you like) cultural hot spot. Sadly, Toronto suffers from a disease called gentrification. For decades now, neighbourhoods across the city have consumed themselves in the name of commerce (Pages is part of that trend). This may be an inevitable off-shoot of a free market, or it may just be a free market out of control, wherein landlords are allowed to run roughshod over the city's culture. As a city, we have to ask, do indie businesses hold cultural value, and if so, do we want to see them survive, or are we satisfied to let landlords kill them so that another anonymous Starbucks, Foot Locker, HMV, Gap, or Chapters can move in?
4) Indie bookstores are not like other stores. Bookstores are centres of human knowledge and expression. A Nike running shoe contributes far less to the growth and strength of a culture than does a David Foster Wallace novel. Indie bookstores tend to be run by individuals who have intense and wide-ranging cultural interests and as such they deliver a fascinating curated selection of human thought and creativity. When Larry Stevenson started Chapters many years ago, he went on record in Canadian Business magazine stating that the only reason he chose bookselling as a business was because he could dominate the market. He didn't care what he sold, so long as he could maximize profit. One can argue that that is how the free market works, but one can respond by arguing that culture is not necessarily a product of the free market. Literature is quite often produced by people who put social interests above commercial interests, and if access to literature is hampered by those who care only about its ability to generate profit, the culture suffers.
I'm not arguing that indie bookstores don't have a responsibility to conduct themselves as responsible businesses. Pages, arguably, made some grave mistakes in that department over the years and that, in part, is why their suffering is so acute right now. I'm also not arguing that indie shops are necessarily kinder, gentler businesses compared to big-box. Indie businesses cover the full range of character, from the socially responsible to selfish a-holes. But I would personally much rather have the option to select from a range of individual, privately owned shops, with their own character and identity, than see each street in the city lined with the same anonymous corporate outlets that take the largest slice of the pie they can get their paws on, that regard me as nothing but a walking debit card, that don't give anything back to my community, and that will walk away the second the money runs thin.
It is probably too late to "save Pages" (how does one save a retail store?). Ironically, the recession may give them a lifeline, since business growth is stalling. But soon enough the place will likely have to close and/or move. Arguably, their business model no longer works for that location. 905ers who come downtown to shop at Aritzia and Zara on the weekend are not the types who buy Chomsky and Bukowski. But this is like the recent caffufle over indie movie theatres, like the Review and Royal. When they started to take on water, everyone cried that we were losing part of our local culture. But the only chance businesses have to survive is if people patronize them. Those theatres often sat relatively empty while movie goers flocked to Cineplex (ironically controlled by the same corporate interests that control Chapters). If we want an interesting, strong, dynamic and diverse city, we have to shop locally and stop patronizing big-box. If we don't, well, enjoy your Starbucks grande lattes and Will Smith movies.
How about a Soudscapes/Pages joint venture, no? Why not combine 2 of Toronto's best "indy" stores? Books and music go hand in hand, imo and I'm sure that it would be a success for both parties as they are both popular shops. Just an idea.
Browsing in Pages is much more interesting than browsing in Chapters — I've been walking out of various Chapters stores feeling kind of bored, lately, but last week I walked out of Pages with an embarrassingly long Christmas list in my head. I certainly hope that they find a new location, or, even better, cut a workable deal in the current one.
The landlords must be nervous about booting out an existing tenant with all of the gloom about the economy on the news every evening, unless they've already quietly set something up. $400 000/month; yikes.
(I'm not sure that that stretch of Queen is entirely "lost," given that it's still got Active Surplus and the Black Market.)
"905ers who come downtown to shop at Aritzia and Zara on the weekend are not the types who buy Chomsky and Bukowski"
At least someone is upfront about their contempt for the people who shop at stores other Pages. The rest of your piece was doggeral.
In addition to all the other benefits of independent book stores listed above, Pages and many others carry small print books and magazines (local and international) that you would NEVER be able to find at Chapters. Can you imagine visiting a Chapters and asking them to carry your homemade zine or self-published novel? I don't think so.
The only reason I visit that part of Queen W these days is for Pages. If Pages moved to a new location, I would happily make the trek, long or far, to support them.
@badbhoy
You say: "Chapters/Indigo sell the same books for the most part."
I don't agree with that at all. I have a very hard time finding interesting books at Chapters/Indigo compared to Pages. I can literally walk into Pages and within 20 minutes my only major decision is how many of the 5 books in my hand can I afford today.
I really hope they move. I remember when I first moved to Toronto and my friend took me there. I was in absolute awe of all the literary goodness inside!
Wherever they move, I will follow.
Pageless: You're right, time will tell if Pages does well at another location. And i'm willing to bet money that it will do well.
Uninterested people and traffic isn't kicking Pages off their Queen/John spot, high rents is. The article insinuated that they well doing relatively well with Chapters down the street.
Best of luck Pages :)
At the end of the day I just want to be able to find what I want quickly and easily. Your time is valuable, and for me trudging around to indie stores trying to find what I want - or calling up several places only to get the offer to order it for me - just does not compare to being able to look up a book online and find out exactly which locations have it, and how many.
Afterall, if I can't find it easily and do need to order it myself, it's much easier to research it myself online to find the exact version/printing that I want, with literally the whole world at my disposal.
It sucks for the indie stores who need more business - and for those who frequent such stores like Pages - as I know there are others like myself, but I'm not going to add to my own inconvenience just to help out a place that never has what I'm looking for anyway.
I am a big fan of the independent bookstore. I try to get most of my books at BMV. I have tried shopping at Pages when I used to work in the area and I had a run-in with a guy who I think was the owner. He was a first class ASSHOLE who treated me like dirt. I never went in there again. At least Chapters staff answer my questions with a smile, not contempt.
I love Pages! It's really unfortunate to see them move from their current location to another. I hope they don't see the same fate as Ballenford Books.
The reason why I love independent stores is because they carry a much wider range of selection in their stock.
However, at the end of the day, you can not avoid gentrification. It always has been and always will be there. Bloor-Yorkville is the classic example. Sad? Yes. Unfortunate? Yes. But it is inevitable and a matter of time before migration happens.
Like the ethnic migrations within Toronto and out to the suburbs, there is little that can stop the migration.
Tim, this is very upsetting. I didn't know this was happening. I hope it can be saved!
Also, thanks for stopping by my blog. You said you were sorry I found BlogTO boring... and I replied at my blog but I will do so here as well. It had been a few months since I popped by here, and I actually don't find it a boring read at the moment. It seems like some improvements have been made. Ironically, things like what this post are about are exactly what I want to hear. Oh, and thanks for taking an interest in your readers. I'll be stopping in here much more now.
There's no contempt in that statement - it's just demographics. That stretch of Queen West used to be a cultural destination, with numerous bookstores, indie record stores, galleries, and the type of hole-in-the-wall bars frequented by artists/musicians/writers etc. Now it's chain clothing stores. The people who make a point of heading to Queen West today are not the people who made a point of heading there ten years ago. Period. There's no value judgement implicit in this observation - people are free to purchase what they like - it's just pointing out that the neighborhood has changed whilst the store has not. Also, it's spelled "doggerel".
That said, I'm amused by the Facebook "Save Pages!" group populated by people I've never seen shopping in there. And equally amused by all the sudden hue and cry about a situation that anyone could have seen coming years ago. It's called a ten-year lease for a reason - it has a time limit, and when's the last time a renegotiated lease got cheaper? The store's owner should have started looking earnestly for a new location five years ago, when it was already obvious Queen West was well on the path to its current state: a poor environment for the sort of store that Pages is. This is a business that's failing due to poor decision-making, not a charity. It should be able to stand on its own merits (of which it has many). I sincerely hope that it does so, since Toronto will be a poorer place without Pages.
Hmm well I shop at Aritzia and love Pages... and do read/study Chomsky, Bukowski, Ginsberg, Cohen. I wouldn't make grand assumptions about the type of consumers you find at particular retail chains or independent businesses alike (though I prefer to support the later).
Demographics are not grand assumptions. There will always be exceptions like you. From my 6ish years working in the store, I have a pretty solid idea of who rolls in there come a Saturday afternoon.
indigo should never have been allowed to buy chapters.
it's sad to see pages go. i've lived around the corner since 2002 but must admit that although appreciating the atmosphere small shops give, i rarely go in. if they were to renovate from being a gift shop type atmosphere into something more like the book shop at front & church, the big book shop in annex, i'd probably go looking for my books there more often than in the chapters a block away.
"the few times I have gone Pages, I was treated like crap by the staff"
I couldn't agree more. The "invaluable community environment" translates into "you're not welcome here if you don't look like you live at Queen & Bathurst." I'd rather shop independent too, but Pages is pricey and with online stores you avoid both the crowds and the attitude, and get a better bargain.
That said, there must be somewhere they could move and still survive. Look at Nicholas Hoare (I know it's a mini-chain, but still.) Look at Acadia on Queen East. If Pages is really a destination shop, its customers will follow.
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