News Flash
This Ain't The Rosedale Library officially deadpool
It seems the battle has been lost for This Ain't The Rosedale Library in Kensington Market.
Owners Charlie and Jesse Huisken posted an update on their blog late last week, saying that the store "has no future at this location."
"We ask for your trust that we have, for some time now, considered all the options, and have had the support of a lawyer in formalizing them," they write. "Our only hope is to imagine that the store may reemerge in the long-term."
A notice of distress was posted on the bookstore's door about a week ago, indicating that more than $40,000 was owed to the indie store's landlord. The Huiskens say all attempts to negotiate with her have failed.
"Predatory pricing of Amazon, inflated rents in urban centers, remaindering of excessive print-runs demanded by big-box stores and corporate publishing have had a devastating effect on smaller entrepreneurs," they continue. Despite their loss, the Huiskens offer advice for keeping other indie bookstores alive:
"The best and most satisfying way to support indies is to explore the stores in your city, browse their selection, trust your own curiosity, and buy gift certificates if nothing suits you."
Sigh.. another one bites the dust.
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I'm guilty of ordering from Amazon, although to be frank I'm usually ordering a DVD and need to top up an order with a book to get free shipping.
Most of the books I buy are used, actually. There are a few shops I frequent, and I love digging around a good used book store. They tend to be locally owned, and I like to support them.
In a world where new books have rocketed up in price, I can't afford to buy everything I want at full retail. No way.
And that's what gets me: while I sympathize with the plight of the local, small bookstore I am not--as the saying goes--overburdened with cash. There are certainly people poorer than I, but that does not imply that I am rich.
The problem is that most bookstores seems to blindly charge the "suggested retail price" found on the jacket. For years there were stores that claimed that the "publisher sets the price." This is of course nonsense: you buy book a cost and you can charge whatever you'd like for it.
Even Chapters, which surely has the benefit of volume similar to Amazon, offers no discounts or price adjustments.
So in a world where my cash reserves are finite, Amazon offers a discount on pretty much everything and my local bookstore offers nothing what am I to do?
My used solution doesn't help authors either, by the way. When Pages was open I visited regularly and bought from the emerging authors table. There are fewer and fewer places to find those books.
I'm really sad to see these guys closing. I love bookstores.