Ricardo Sanchez

Transformation of Book Retailing in Canada ©2015

The main goal of this research paper is to examine the changing landscape of the Canadian book retail industry in order to reveal its present make-up and identify the detriments and opportunities associated with the recent trends. Using the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as the study area to describe the sequence of restructuring in the book retailing industry over time, two trends are found to have significant implications for the ability of traditional bookstores to meet the demand for books in Canada. First, the consolidation and “super-sizing” of chain bookstores has diverted customer flow away from independent bookstores. Secondly, the competition from non-traditional book retailers has been a detriment to both independent and chain bookstores in loss of market share. Despite these rising threats, the remaining independent and chain bookstores have solidified their business practices and identified their strengths in positioning themselves as strong fixtures within the book retailing industry.