In early October 2014, I made my final visit to the bookstore Chapters in Montreal. It has been in my memory for years - that is, I have many, many found memories of visiting that bookstore when I worked in downtown Montreal.
In fact, it was my favorite bookstore in Montreal , not that we have many. Although, I am as guilty as the next person - not shopping or visiting there as much when I got my Kindle.
One of the things I did not like about Chapters is that it is owned by Heather Reisman - she has been heralded as a whiz when it comes to making $ but I personally think she destroyed Chapters.
Reisman was also, in my view, nothing short of a dictator, basically deciding what would be sold in her stores - in fact I really started disliking her and her "style" when she took it upon herself to ban the selling of the book "Mien Kamf" - written by Adolf Hitler. To me, this was nothing more than Reisman shoving her personal views down our throats....and many people agreed. In fact, it caused quite a stink in Canada.
In more recent years, her decision to turn bookstores into the next high end "Target" really backfired. I mean, who wanted to buy $25.00 mugs in a bookstore???? Also, of course, the ebook also made a definite dent in the bottom line. When you combine all of these factors, it makes sense that Chapters would crumble.
Now, sadly, we are left with yet another Reisman owned bookstore - Indigo, which can be found only a few streets from the old Chapters location (more great planning on the part of Reisman). Unfortunately, Montreal is not known for having a bunch of independent bookstores either, So, I am now doing my shopping on Amazon.ca and feeding my Kindle with Net Galley and Above the Tree line. All of which ensures that I never put more of my hard earned cash into Reisman's pockets.
I could not, however, pass up the chance to do one final visit to one of my favorite places in Montreal.
Chapters, you will be missed.
3 comments:
Very well said! I'll miss Chapters, it was so warm and cozy (until the shelves and tables started being crammed full of crap like 80$ throws and monogrammed pillows *sigh*)
I agree she ruined the stores once she got into power. Its sad that its turning more and more into a high end target and I am getting a little tired of being asked if I want to buy an over priced blanket every time I go in.
Agree with what you've said here. These big box bookstores took so many smaller and indie stores out of business and now they're filling up space with trendy housewares :( I have to wonder who the customers for these items are. Still going to miss the store though. Will be sad to see the space where it once stood next time I'm in Montreal.
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