Ben McNally Books, "a cherished independent Toronto bookstore and a champion of Canadian authors," will close some time next year to make way for renovations to the building in the city's Bay Street business district, where it has been located since its launch in 2007, the Globe & Mail reported.
Proprietor Ben McNally and his son, Rupert, with whom he runs the business, hope to relocate, but acknowledged that, if they do reopen, the new operation will be quite different. In a statement announcing the decision, Rupert McNally wrote that the bookstore's "existence and its survival owe themselves almost entirely to one man: the eponymous owner, the tireless advocate of reading, readers, writers, and all things books, and my father. This store stands, and has stood through thick and exceedingly thin, as a culmination of his efforts. Only, it will stand no longer."
The store is being replaced by an open-air walkway, forming part of what the landlord will call the Bay Street Village. "At some point during 2020 we'll have to close the doors," McNally noted, adding that "this doesn't necessarily mean the end of Ben McNally Books. We are currently assessing our options for the future. This does, however, mean the end of Ben McNally Books in its current remarkable form. A bookstore in the center of the city, or one with an appealing Art Deco design, or one whose space is open enough for a crowd and quiet enough for solitude, does not come around often. We were fortunate to be all of these, and I think we built something special upon this foundation. I regret the passing of this place."
The store's lease expires at the end of August, 2020, though the McNallys said they may leave earlier, depending on continuing negotiations with their landlord, Dream Office Management Corp.
Ben McNally told the Globe & Mail that several considerations would come into play regarding any new location: "I think it's going to be pretty expensive to maintain this much square footage. In terms of actual books, we won't need that much. We'll have to see what the fiscal limitations are, going forward, to see what we can afford. We're going to be running numbers in a whole different way than we did when we first opened up."
He also noted that even signing a lease for a new location sparks a cautious approach: "There's a certain reluctance on our part to say: Well, let's go into [another] building if we think there's a possibility it's going to get knocked down within, like, 36 months. And, looking around, every place you look, you think: How long is that place going to be here?"
Alana Wilcox, editorial director of Coach House Books, called the news "a heartbreak. It would put a big hole in the middle of downtown Toronto. We're not well-stocked in terms of bookstores in this city. Ben McNally is such an important part of the literary fabric in Toronto. It would be devastating to lose that store."
Kevin Hanson, the president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Canada, said the elder McNally had "created a bit of a temple for books, and we as publishers really enjoyed launching our authors there, because it had that feeling of a place where authors are respected and books are cherished. So I think we'll all be hoping he and Rupert find another location where they can recreate the magic."
Kristin Cochrane, CEO of Penguin Random House Canada, noted that "every international publishing colleague who comes to Toronto is awed by a must-see visit to Ben's store. It is without a doubt a booklover's dream and they are wonderful booksellers who care deeply about authors and their books and their customers. The book industry without Ben is unthinkable for me."