Book City celebrates 30 years of not succumbing to big box stores
By Karolyn Coorsh
December 7, 2006
Frans Donker relies on book smarts to maintain a successful retail business on the Danforth and beyond. Not just his own book smarts, now, but those of an entire city.
Torontonians’ insatiable interest in literature has helped keep his Book City bookstores in business for the past 30 years. But other factors have contributed to buoying the enterprise at a time when city streets have become saturated with big box bookstores.
Donker credits an intriguing inventory of titles and the personal touch by his staff for Book City’s durability.
"I do believe it’s because we’ve stuck to what we know best — that is, books," he says. "We’ve never added yoga mats or candlesticks (to our stock)."
Donker does not like the big chain phenomenon that has impacted retail in the past decade and has also found its way to bookselling, but he is glad to be in the company of other independent book-stores. In fact, he says, it’s important for people to have a choice in community bookshops.
"We all share a marketplace," he said in an interview. "We all do it in a different way.
"I don’t call them competitors. I call them colleagues."
Donker worked in the publishing business in his native Holland, and in Germany and England. He opened Book City after deciding to make his home in Toronto.
So why, after having worked all over Europe, did he settle in Toronto?
"I got stuck in Canada because I fell in love with a beautiful girl I met in Canada," he said, referring to wife Gini.
The couple decided together to open Book City, and chose the Annex as the location of their flagship store because they believed it would be a good fit for the intellectual atmosphere of a neighbour-hood in close proximity to the University of Toronto.
"I was sitting around the dinner table with my wife and we decided to go into the book business with a couple nickels I had saved up," said Donker.
Gradually, Donker opened five other locations throughout the city, including one on Danforth and Jackman avenues, which opened in 1985.
All Book City stores are housed in storefronts nestled on main streets like Bloor St. or Yonge St.
Donker says he’ll never open a Book City outlet in a shopping mall. As he sees it, a bookstore is meant to be part of the community.
"It adds to the excitement for book lovers," he commented.
Frans and Gini Donker celebrated their three decades in the business on Oct. 4 as hosts of an International Readings event at Harbourfront.
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