Chapters Runnymede 1998-2014

On February 16, 2014, the Chapters location at 2223 Bloor Street West in Toronto's Bloor West Village will shut its doors for the last time. Opened in 1998 in the space previously occupied by Famous Players' stacked Runnymede Theatre, Chapters managed a rare feat in that it was able to turn anti-big-box NIMBY-ism around and at the same time create a cultural hub for the upscale, still-Ukrainian-flavoured neighbourhood.

There have been numerous articles written about the building's history, contentious present, and future as a big-box pill pusher, but after an hour strolling through the racks, shooting its historical remnants and buying a souvenir of it's all-too-brief tenure as a literary (and plush toy) mecca, I'm left sad for the neighbourhood, yet hopeful that smaller retailers can take up the cause and fill spaces left by Chapters and Book City, which itself left Bloor West Village in 2012.

Photos taken on February 11, 2014 near the corner of Bloor Street West and Runnymede Road in Toronto, Ontario.

Other posts on defunct theatres in Toronto:
Westwood Theatre
The Roxy/Allenby (prior to its resurrection as a Tim Hortons/Esso

and one which got resurrected as an actual movie theatre...
The Kingsway

Everything Must Go

Yesterday, the city of Laredo, Texas lost it's sole general bookstore. Barnes & Noble, creator of the Nook, another electronic bookstore killer in itself, shuttered its mall-based B. Dalton bookstore chain. Now, nearly a quarter-million people have to settle for whatever Walmart or Target think they want to read, and despite an excellent library system, those for whom internet service isn't in the budget, owning a classic, or any title that's not on the top 20, will now be a 150 mile drive away. In true Canuckistani style, my vulture-pick was Paul Shaffer's autobiography. They had several copies, if I remember correctly.

And continuing a trend seen up here with the death of chains like Sam The Record Man and Music World, another Sam, this time Sam Goody, closed the only record store in downtown San Antonio. Further evidence that the value of that wall of CDs or wall of books people have collected for years is becoming less valuable as days go by...

My vulture pick was the deluxe version of Warren Zevon's first album for Asylum. A total steal for $13.

Photos taken January 5 and 7, 2009 at Mall del Norte, Laredo, TX, and Rivercenter Mall, San Antonio, TX.