[URBAN NOTE] "Deadpool looms for Pages Bookstore"

[rfmcdonald]

Pages Bookstore, one of the institutions of Queen Street West, will be closing down on the 31st of August on account of the trendy district's rising rents as Derek writes.

The sad, but perhaps inevitable, news came today that Pages, one of Toronto's most-loved bookstores, will indeed be closing its doors on August 31st. Efforts by owner Marc Glassman to maintain the viability of his business amid "skyrocketing rents" on Queen West have ultimately hit a brick wall in the form of lease-cycle that's finally run its course.

As previously reported, a six month extension worked out with Pinedale Properties in February was occasion for cautious hope, but the discrepancy between what Glassman can afford to pay and what Pinedale believes it can charge is simply too wide. A fixture for artists, intellectuals and book lovers coming on 30 years, the store will be sorely missed.

[. . .]

Hesitant to give me a drop-dead date on a search [for a new location], Marc instead explained that beyond just finding a new location, it's become both necessary and desirable to rethink the store from the ground up. In the age of the Kindle and eBooks, it's his belief that the independent bookstore will have a better chance to thrive if it's operated as something of a split between a retail venture and an event-space. (Perhaps something like powerHouse Books?)

[. . .]

While the importance of the materiality of books will certainly continue to fade, it's unlikely to completely disappear. There's plenty out there who'll continue to treasure the beauty of the book as an object. Indeed, I'd count myself one of these people. But to rely solely on this form of business is, given the current situation at Pages, hardly prudent.

While I'm not a very big Queen Street West aficionado, all the less so since I moved from a residence just a block from Queen Street West, Pages' disappearance does sadden me. It was a wonderful place to browse. The closure doesn't surprise me, really. What can you expect out of a district that has long since abandoned its bohemian atmosphere for super trendiness on the pattern of once-bohemian Yorkville?