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Landmark Gay and Lesbian Bookstore Closes in Montreal
Landmark Gay and Lesbian Bookstore Closes in Montreal
by Paul Olsen
Citing increased competition and poor sales, the owner of Montreal’s landmark gay and lesbian bookstore, L’Androgyne, announced that the store would close by the end of August.
Billed as the “Gay and Lesbian Bookstore of Montreal since 1973,” L’Androgyne was located on St. Laurent Boulevard for most of its 30-year history. Less than two years ago the store was purchased by Bernard Rousseau and moved to Amherst Street, closer to the city’s Gay Village. Unfortunately, the move didn’t help boost sales.
In an interview, Rousseau said the decision to close L’Androgyne was a difficult one. “I think the need is just not there anymore for that kind of store.”
Rousseau notified customers of the closing in a message posted on the store’s web site. “The main reason we arrived at this decision is cut-throat competition from the major bookstore chains which all now carry a selection of gay and lesbian titles, from some discounters selling some of our titles almost at our cost and from all the Web sites and especially Amazon.ca just now starting to sell into Canada,” he wrote. “We think the business model of specialized little bookstores is broken and non-sustainable. Gays and lesbians can now find books and videos from the regular mainstream merchants.”
“I’ve come here many times so it represents a loss,” said customer Bradford Brown of Montreal. “When I travel I usually go to the [gay] bookstore, someplace that I know is not just a place to buy books. It is a place to find identity and learn what a community really is about.”
According to Todd Anderson, President of the Toronto-based Canadian Booksellers Association (CBA), many independent bookstores are losing the battle against large chain stores. “We have lost some excellent stores over the past eight years, we have faced coercive behavior and we have been challenged with intense competition.”
According to Michael Hoynes, Chief Marketing Officer for the American Booksellers Association in Tarrytown, New York, “Most of the greatest loss of [U.S] independent bookstores took place in the early 90’s. Approximately 40 percent of independent bookstores in the country went out of business. A lot of it had to do with the super chain stores and the Internet.”
Likewise, in a recent story, PlanetOut.com reported that Different Drummer Books, a gay bookstore in Laguna Beach, California, was closing after fifteen years.