Update Dec. 9: a statement from Indigo has been added to this story
Huntsville will lose its only bookstore at the end of this year.
Staff at the Coles bookstore in Huntsville Place Mall confirmed today that it will close effective Dec. 31, 2021.
Coles has had a long history in Canada. Brothers Carl and Jack Cole opened the first Coles store in 1940 in Toronto. In 1995, Coles merged with SmithBooks to form Chapters Inc. A couple of years later, Indigo Books and Music launched, and then in 2001 merged with Chapters. Indigo is now the largest book retailer in Canada, employing approximately 5,000 people across the country.
The Huntsville store opened in June 1992. Its manager, Catherine Wyle, has been there from the beginning. She was not able to comment on the company’s decision to close its Huntsville location.
An Indigo representative emailed the following statement on Dec. 9:
“As part of our normal business practices, we regularly review and optimize our real estate portfolio. We consider many factors when we make these decisions. After 30 wonderful years, Coles Huntsville will close to the public on December 31, 2021. We remain deeply dedicated to serving the community and are always available at indigo.ca where customers can enjoy the same great products they know and love. We are working closely with all employees to ensure they are fully supported through this transition.”
Huntsville previously had an independent bookstore, The Bookcase, which closed in 2012 after 42 years in the community. A used bookstore, So Many Books, So Little Time, changed its focus to women’s fashion after it was flooded in 2013.
Coles will be the last to fall. Many in the community will have fond memories of both the store and its staff from its three-decade run.
Beyond local stores that carry a small selection of books, Huntsville-area bibliophiles will now either have to order online, or travel to Parry Sound or Orillia which both have independent bookstores, or North Bay or Barrie which each have independents as well as Coles or Indigo stores. Bracebridge has a used bookstore, The Owl Pen.
As of October 2, 2021, Indigo operated 88 Chapters or Indigo superstores and 86 small-format stores as Coles and Indigospirit. The small-format stores tend to be found in smaller or more remote communities.
It’s not the first time Coles stores have been shuttered in recent years.
In early 2020, Indigo closed 20 Coles stores, “which were either not profitable or very, very marginal,” Indigo CEO Heather Reisman was quoted in an interview with Bloomberg at the time. “That was a tough decision because in those communities, we were the only bookstore, and I suspect the only store that was willing to operate at a loss to serve the community.”
Indigo closed more Coles stores across the country earlier this year including ones in Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, and Cobourg.
According to a financial report released November 9, revenue for the company’s most recent fiscal quarter, the 13-week period ending Oct. 2, 2021, was $238 million. It reported net earnings of $3.5 million compared to a net loss of $17.5 million for its second quarter last year, and noted that “[r]etail does remain traffic-challenged”.
In its first quarter of this fiscal year, the 13-week period ending July 3, 2021, Indigo reported a net loss of $21.9 million compared to a net loss of $31.6 million in its first fiscal quarter of the previous year.
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Our town can support six cannabis stores but not one small bookstore: a sad reflection on us! Will definitely miss Catherine and her staff!
I will miss the bookstore. Not just for the books, but because it’s closing will diminish my ability to help Tricia with the grocery shopping. At home our shelves are loaded with volumes we have purchased over the years, some specifically for our boys when they were younger, but I read them anyway. In 1975 we purchased the ‘Encyclopedic Dictionary’ published by Readers Digest and the ‘National Geographic Atlas of the World’. Both those tomes now show their years.
A book was how Carl Sagan expanded my ‘Cosmos’, and in the ‘Bible’, the Lord speaks in parables, suggesting to me what might lay beyond all this.
Daniel Boorstin wrote ‘The Discovers’ so that I might accept different perspectives in assessing situations; Rolling Stone printed the ‘ Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll’ so my boys could point out where I was…..sometimes…… wrong.
We travelled, and like everyone else, snapped photographs galore. Tricia decided that a good published photo album, done by a professional, was the way to go. We still have those books and can revisit from time to time.
In a book, William deverill encourages us to ‘Kill all the Lawyers’, just as William Shakespeare did in a different book. Martin Cruz Smith will take me to ‘Gorky Park’ and Russia, while James Lee Burke will subject me to police work in sultry Louisiana humidity. Aldo Leopold wrote ‘A Sand County Almanac’ to alert us to the fact we are destroying our land, and he did it in the 1930’s and ’40’s. Isaac Asimov wrote ‘I Robot’, suggesting that mankind shouldn’t develop technology that will hurt itself; certainly a voice lost in the wilderness today.
I know there are other devices that can serve as books, but I find none of them to have that same cachet as the real thing.
On a Pacific island beach you can nod off with a book open on your chest, confident you are assimilating the storyline through you very pores. That book won’t buzz or beep, fart or vibrate to disturb you, nor will it shut down just because it got a bit warm.
Later, someone might acknowledge that you are a reader of books, pointing to the uneveness of your tan. You just explain how you were using a book as UV protection, then ask would they like to sit, join us for a beverage and discus a good book.
Merry Christmas to all those who are so inclined, and to everyone else, the very best of the season.
Farwell to our Coles, I will miss it, but here’s to those good books!
This news is very upsetting as this was my favorite store in Huntsville Mall. I have spent so much time in this place. I will miss the knowledgeable staff. I’m sure everyone who has visited this store will be heartbroken. A fond farewell to all staff at Coles.
Yup our town can’t keep one book store afloat but we have how many ‘luxury’ pretentious real estate offices in the Main Street?
Priorities… catering to the greedy rich or educational outlet for our kids? You pick
This is a great loss for our community! Catherine and her staff were just the best employees Cole/Indigo could have had…always welcoming, knowledgeable and so helpful! We will miss our perfect little bookstore!!!
i am so sorry to hear they are closing was there a couple of weeks ago ………………..will miss them the staff was so friendly and helpful …………….
I am so very disappointed with the decision made by Coles/Indigo. Surely a company that large, making mega profits in the past, could put aside its need for increased annual profits until well after the pandemic threat has passed and customers resume their former buying hablts? I am still not comfortable going into stores to browse as I did in the past, and Coles was a wonderful place to do so. Catherine and her staff were exemplary with their excellent Customer Service, memory of client’s preferences, and professional follow up on all requests – now a massive loss for Coles/Indigo. I for one, will no longer be purchasing anything from Coles/Indigo and will now be spending a lot more time at our local library where a sort trip can provide me with 2-3 new releases without the cost of anything but a short trip to scan the shelves. I hope a lot more readers do this as well and make a loud statement to this company. With the signing out of 2-3 books, I can easily wait for any new releases to come in, no problem. For me, on line purchasing is not an option with a company that does not support me or my community, and puts profits over their staff and customers slowly recovering from a devastating couple of years, when they have the ability to reduce their own staff/costs and ride out their losses just a bit longer. Big mistake Coles/Indigo!
Sad, but it won’t be the only store closing. This “Mall” is a vast wasteland with very few good stores left. Walmart claims another victim.
“We remain deeply dedicated to serving the community”
Not so.
This is is a business decision and not enough people patronize the store, so just say that. Why add the empty phrase?
With no book store (nor cinema), Huntsville loses another people space/culture zone. Rats! More screen time for all.
So sorry that Coles needs to close. You have operated such a quality, accessible store and your personality is so much appreciated by all of us Huntsvillians. Best wishes for your ongoing chapter!
Sad news indeed. There is something about the classic paper book that a Kindle or computer just cannot replace.
Maybe one of the bigger boxy stores like Walmart might find it possible to have a section of their store set aside as a sort of “in store book store”, maybe even some form of sub let the management so Walmart does not need to get into the day to day workings, just sort of act like a benevolent landlord?
This would reduce, or could reduce the cost to run a book store and the advantage to the host, be is Walmart or some other store, would be that the books store customers would be “inside” the bigger store and likely to purchase something else while there. Perhaps it could be made to work to everyone’s advantage. Envision something like the pharmacy in the independent food store but with books. It would not take up a big percentage of the main stores floor area. Just a thought.
What sad news!! I can’t believe that the only bookstore in our rural community is going to close…
We will now lose the very special contact we had with Catherine and her staff who were so helpful and knowledgeable. I was trying so hard to avoid the impersonal option of buying on line… In a small town like ours, real communication with real people makes such a difference.
I wish Catherine and her staff all the best after this difficult announcement from Coles headquarters.
I am so saddened and disappointed at this disrespectful decision taken by Coles/ Indigo.
This well run much loved little shop has been a lifeline for many including myself.
Catharine Wyle provides exceptional leadership and has developed a strong informed professional team who remember everyone’s name and treat
people with dignity and respect
We have vacant buildings all over town and I fail to accept that it would be just too difficult that this multi million dollar company could not relocate within Huntsville rather than just axe it .This is a nasty business decision taken during tough times ..Shame on you! Oh and Merry Xmas !
Very sad news indeed, Catherine and colleagues. You make such enjoyable, civilized and congenial contributions to your community. The announced closing is a terrible loss for Huntsville.
I am so heartbroken to find out about Coles closing at the end of this year.
Every year, as soon as the Canada Reads final 5 books list was announced on the CBC I’d head to Coles to ask Catherine to order them for me. I told her that no way was I ordering them on-line!!!!!!!
A local book store to me is a significant part of the soul of a community.
Thank you so much Catherine for your kindness, passion and absolute commitment to offering the most beautiful books to us.
I wish you and your staff the very best in your future endeavours.
With love and respect
Martina Schroer
As a retired teacher and a grandparent, I have been so heartened to learn that my granddaughter still loves to read books, and shops regularly at Cole’s, with gift cards. It is a death knell for any community to be without one bookstore…..”You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone”……
Very sad news indeed – my first job as a teen was at Coles in Hamilton, which sold everything from books and games to art supplies. The presence of Coles here in Huntsville was an asset when we moved to the area as our previous little town didn’t have a book shop. To Catharine and staff who’ve helped me many times, I can only say thanks and best of luck going forward – you’ll be missed.
A literal loss for Huntsville that leaves a huge hole in our local shopping experience. Catherine’s uncanny knack for remembering one’s previous purchases and tastes is the mark of a dedicated professional, along with her warmth and cheerfulness. We will be sad to turn to online purchasing and longer travels to bookstores further afield. Best wishes to all the staff.
It’s a shame to see anything close, when hard working and dedicated staff have to move on.
But times change and I sense the.Huntsville Mall is on a tricky slope, like many other small. covered malls across North America.
Certainly Chapters Indigo can survive, albeit barely, in power centres where they have large stores and a wider lifestyle product line to sell. These are typically in bigger places like Barrie or the GTA.
Virtual reading is the fact. We had hundreds of books and couldn’t give them away, although we tried!
Alas, I am heartbroken!
What was the reason? Is there anything we can do?
Like the others, I thought the staff was exceptionally helpful, friendly and knowledgeable. Huntsville won,t be the same without it!
This is such very sad news.
Catherine and her team have been an amazing connection for all book lovers in Huntsville. They are always available to help find a book in the store, to order it online, or to suggest an alternative. I was into Coles just last night and was thrilled to find a book I thought might not be available; but it was, as it always is in that little book store.
Catherine has been such an amazing supporter of literacy and books with her long time connection to the Muskoka Novel Marathon and the Muskoka Literacy Council.
Thank you Catherine for all that you have done over the years to make the Coles in Huntsville the gem that it is. You have made an indelible impression on Huntsville readers of all ages.
Such sad news! Thank you Catherine and staff for your excellent friendly service over the years. This forces us to buy our books online which I have tried to avoid doing in the past.
Shop local for Christmas, Everybody!
Very sad to lose the bookstore. I know the profit margins are narrow for books. On line ordering and delivery not as satisfying a consumer experience as browsing the store and picking up a real book. E- reads not the same. You leave a hole in our book loving hearts as you go. Thank you for being there for us! Wishing you all good things in the future. Joanne Tanaka
My family and I will be so sad to see the Coles in Huntsville close. I guess my children will have to use their gift cards the last week of the year! Thank you for being there for our community. And thank you to all of your helpful staff.
Very sad to see the news about Cole’s closing. It was always an enjoyable experience to visit this store.
I want to thank Catherine and her team. I am so sorry to read that Coles will be closing. Catherine knows her stuff and shows how much she cares for her clientele. She is helpful, inspirational and makes you feel like the book you’re just about to purchase is going to be the best read ever. Thank you for your service to our community, and personally, to my joy of reading. All the best!
Very sad news about Cole’s. I have always been happy with how accessible new books were when I just had to have a new title; most recently, “Taste” by Stanley Tucci which was already on the shelf when I heard about it on CBC.. I must commend Catherine for her friendly and consistent service over many, many years! Our conversations over time have evolved into a lovely, “literal “ friendship! We will all miss you Catherine as well as, what feels like, a small-town bookstore. Sigh.
I am so disappointed this book store is closing. It is a great store, and the staff and amazing and knowledgeable. Please reconsider. We are in a bit of remote area, and appreciate having access to the store.