McNally-Robinson Bookstore Shutters Toronto Location
Posted December 29, 2009 12:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Barely a year after it first opened its doors at the Shops at Don Mills, McNally Robinson is closing the doors.
The book store is also shuttering one of its Winnipeg locations.
Three locations will remain open: one in Saskatoon, one in Winnipeg, and a McNally Jackson will continue to serve customers in New York City.
“This has been a heart-rending process,” the company wrote in a message on its website.
“However…we continue our wholesale division, Skylight books, and our website,” the statement continued.
The company thanked its customers and its employees for their loyalty and efforts over the years.
It’s a bad year to be an independent bookseller in Canada: The Toronto Women’s Bookstore is in desperate need of funds, a fate shared by many similar stores.
McNally Robinson Statement – Full Text
By now you may have heard that McNally Robinson has had to close two stores, one in Toronto and the other at Polo Park. Many jobs are lost and many customers will be disappointed. This has been a heart-rending process. However, Grant Park, our flagship store, has survived, as has our Saskatoon store. In addition we continue our wholesale division, Skylight books, and our website, www.mcnallyrobinson.com.
These continue to reflect the quality of bookselling that has led to 7 citations as Canadian independent Bookseller of the Year since 1996. So while the potion is bittersweet, the glass is more than half full. The remaining stores will go forward. We will meet our obligations to customers. We will continue to offer our many programs (readings, book launches, talks, autographings, book clubs, and storytimes) and we will continue to explore new avenues of service to our communities.
The new McNally Robinson will honour existing and carry-over customer obligations (special orders, Reader Reward Card memberships, gift cards, etc). We believe our stores will continue to be among the best independent bookstores anywhere in Canada. Prairie Ink Restaurants will continue both to whet appetites and to satisfy them. To the committed and brilliant booksellers who tried so hard to make Polo Park and Don Mills work, we are deeply sorry; to the customers who embraced those stores, we regret we cannot continue them.
It is almost 30 years since we opened our first store, and we have in the intervening years been the beneficiaries of astonishing community loyalty. For this we thank you.
