The mainstay of mainstreet

For one Nova Scotia-based, independent bookstore, combining older business techniques with more modern ones is the key to their success.

In 2008, one of the oldest bookstores in Canada, Halifax’s The Book Room, went out of business due to stiff competition from big box and online stores. Other recent closures across the country include Vancouver’s Duffie Books and Oscar’s Art Books, Toronto’s Flying Dragon, The Bookery in St. John’s and the last three branches of Nicholas Hoare.
Despite these closures, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia’s Lexicon Books opened in June 2015. It’s owned by authors Alice Burdick and Jo Treggiari along with children’s book enthusiast and former lawyer, Anne-Marie Shepard.

“We saw the need for an independent bookstore on the South Shore [of Nova Scotia], especially following the closure of another bookstore in Bridgewater a few years earlier,” says Burdock.

When creating their business model, the trio knew they needed something that was sustainable; they couldn’t just open a bookstore because there weren’t any around.

“We did a lot of research into what was working and wasn’t working with independent bookstores,” says Burdick. “I think a lot of them closed when there was a bit of a panic surrounding the introduction of ebooks and of course there was the massive competition from places like Amazon.” (According to 2014 article in The New Yorker, Amazon has an estimated $5.25 billion in book sales annually.)

In order to compete with online retailers, Lexicon Books has both a physical and an online store.

“People are happy that they can order in the middle of the night or from many miles away,” says Burdick, as Lexicon Books has shipped across Canada.

“We tend to have customers who repeatedly use the online store and they like that it broadens their idea of what is available; its virtual quality means that thousands of titles that we can’t carry physically are available within days or weeks.”

As with more traditional bookstores, Lexicon Books hosts a number of events. These include book signings and readings; teen and adult book clubs; and Lexicon Salon (a music and poetry event that’s made possible through a partnership with suddenlyListen Music of Halifax). The store also offers gift cards that can be used both online and in-store and doesn’t charge shipping rates for local orders.

“We are happy to continue to work on being the ideal bookstore. Our primary purpose is to provide great books to people,” says Burdick.

While the online component has added to this ideal bookstore mandate Burdick finds that for many readers, nothing will replace the feeling that comes from browsing titles in person.

“People enjoy being in physical bookstores, where books have been carefully selected and there’s an element of lateral discovery, whimsy and wonder,” she says. “The largest online stores have odd algorithms that ignore these factors and suggest unlikely titles because of other buyers’ behaviours. They can’t replicate the human experience of wandering before shelves and finding unexpected delights.”

But, for Lexicon Books, adapting to a modern, digitized world while keeping with tradition is how they will survive.

“Bookstores will always be a necessity if they meet the needs of their customers,” says Burdick. “There are multiple models, but the one we want to embody is that of the general interest, full-service bookstore that is essential to its community.”