Betting that there’s strength in numbers, Canada’s indie bookstores are joining forces to take on Big Book.
Driving the news: Online book seller Les Librairies indépendantes du Québec has expanded to eight more provinces and launched an English version of its website, Booksellers.ca. The company pools the inventory of independent bookstores across Canada in one digital marketplace, akin to Amazon or Indigo, with only titles from local shops.
The operation recently added 30 new stores and now has 160 independent booksellers on the platform (not far off Indigo’s network of 172 stores). The goal is to add 100 new sellers by the end of the year.
After hundreds of closures in the early 2000s, indie book sellers have seen a resurgence over the past few years. As of 2024, there were at least 300 across Canada.
Why it matters: Indie bookstores often have strong support from neighbourhood regulars, but fall behind big retailers when it comes to online sales. The Booksellers.ca model, which has already proven successful in Quebec, could be a win-win for readers and sellers alike.
Customers get a much wider selection than they would at a single bookstore with the online convenience of ordering a book on Amazon — all while supporting small businesses.
For indie sellers, the platform allows them to ship books for far cheaper than they can themselves, and puts their collection in front of a much larger group of customers.
Zoom out: Reading in general has suddenly become cool again. One survey found that Canadians now spend more time reading for fun than they do exercising. It would’ve been great if reading books took time away from doomscrolling TikTok instead of working out, but you can’t win ‘em all.—LA
