Sophie's Choice

For a good portion of the 1990's, our family was interested in the idea of entering the used book business. We are all avid readers, book lovers, and book collectors who cannot pass a bookstore without popping in. Family trips to the library and our local used bookstore were a regularity while growing up. With each of us having interests in different genres (with a little overlapping here and there), we cover a lot of bases. The thought of having a store of our own was appealing, and the hunt was on - both for stock and a location. We thought to combine under one roof many different things that would appeal to readers and book lovers. Not only used books, but some new items as well. Bookmarks (to ward off dog-eared pages), bookends (to keep those out-of-control collections under control), bookplates (to label books on the "Can I borrow that?" circuit to ensure that they always found their way home), book repair tape (to lend a helping hand to collectors with tattered favourites in their collections), and so on. With an interest in book-themed knick knacks as well, we had two sides to our would-be business: books and knick-knacks. Hence the business was born. In the early part of 1998 we bought a commercial property, and in the summer we first opened our doors in a storefront in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada. With start-up stock consisting of a garage full of books hand-picked for just such a venture that we purchased from someone who changed their plans, we were in business. For several years we operated in this storefront, growing our business and learning about the industry and the backbone of it - the customers. It was very satisfying to be present at the end of someone's book quest, as we were quite often. Many a time we heard shouts of joy from somewhere in the shop as customers happened upon just what they'd been looking for (oftentimes for quite a while). At other times, people would approach us with bits and pieces of information that they remembered from long ago favourites in hopes that we could at least help them come up with an author or title to help in their search, which we often times did, with the book in hand. And when we couldn't come up with anything on our own, we would pick the brains of other customers in conversation, or turn to the internet for help for them. For us, quality and selection of stock go hand-in-hand with customer service. One isn't much good without the other. But times, people, places, and lives change and after several years in our storefront we made a change of our own - in 2004 we relocated to the internet. Now a home-based business in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, we are gradually bringing our inventory online here. We carry used paperbacks, hardbacks, and magazines for both adults and children. We have thousands upon thousands of books that are not yet listed for sale on the internet, but are gradually making their way there.

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