This is picture of the bookstore,
vente fermeture,
means,
closing sale,
in French,
language laws in Quebec,
you must have French signage,
but,
everyone in Montreal,
knows what Fermeture means,
it means,
come in,
save money
🙂
It’s been a very good week,
in terms of numbers,
I don’t know,
what,
I will walk away,
with,
but,
even it isn’t much,
I won’t owe,
which is a biggy.
I’m hoping for more,
than,
less,
we’ll see.
I need some vacation time,
and,
time to regroup.
I’ve been through,
the pre-grieving,
the coming to a difficult decision.
I’m comfortable,
with my decision,
it was,
making the best,
of,
some hard choices.
This week,
has been filled,
with people expressing regret,
at a neighbourhood institution,
dissapearing,
and,
lots of morbid curiosity,
as to,
what I will be doing,
with myself.
I don’t know,
thus,
the regrouping time.
I’m not really worried,
I did other stuff,
before,
I’ll do other stuff,
again.
Life is like that,
a series of ends,
and,
of new beginnings.
A lot of people,
who used to buy books,
from my store,
and,
who do less so,
now,
for whatever reason,
different reading means,
ordering on line,
being in hurry,
not having time to browse,
etc, etc, etc,
seem particularly perplex,
as to why,
I’m closing,
it’s not complicated,
in order to cover overhead,
I have to sell lots of books.
I sell books,
quite a bit,
but,
not enough,
not anymore.
There are many reasons,
some of the previously mentionned ones,
and,
undoubtedly,
some faults lie with me,
maybe,
I don’t know books,
as well as I thought,
maybe,
I don’t stock what they need.
We live in a disposable,
go, go, go,
society,
maybe,
there is no room,
for the neighbourhood bookstore,
anymore,
maybe.
As someone who for years,
was thrilled,
at having one in the neighbourhood,
who patronised it,
and,
promoted it,
and,
later on,
ran it,
I can’t help but, feel,
that as we lose these sorts,
of mom and pop businesses,
we lose,
lots.
Sure, Costco and Walmart are cheaper,
sure they provide jobs,
all this is true,
but,
paying less isn’t everything,
having a sense of home,
knowing who you are,
personal touch,
being advised by a reader,
not a ‘clerk’,
these things are also important.
I see the effects,
in the book business,
but,
I think it applies,
to everything,
the Thai take out chain,
replacing the family run,
lunch counter,
buying Chinese garlic,
because it’s cheaper and more accessible,
in our grocery chains,
then is our own home grown.
I understand why people,
grow stuff on their balconies,
more and more,
and,
why hipster ‘old fashioned’ burger joints,
are all the rage,
people want what they used to have,
but,
sometimes,
if they looked up,
from the iphones,
ipads,
tablets and laptops,
that we are,
most of us,
obsessed with,
they would see that some,
of the old fashioned is still around,
but,
rapidly dissapearing.
I will miss my little place,
I will miss being,
a gathering place,
for fun,
for intelligent conversation,
to talk about books,
to talk about politics,
and,
the state of the world.
I can only hope that someone,
will take up,
the gauntlet,
I wasn’t strong enough,
to do it anymore,
I’m on to other things,
whatever those things,
may be
🙂
Later girls,
BB
*** btw, I like Amazon as much as the next butch:-P they are very good, they always have what I want, good suggestions and reader reviews, top notch and their prices can’t be beat***
this article started a big discussion with a good friend who pointed out the irony of Huffington Post publishing it, he’s right, but, this article, brought a big lump to my throat, well worth reading, wether you own a bookstore or not:-P
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-hill/bookstores_b_2808396.html