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Still a rare commodity in Quebec, literary cafes aim to provide reading lovers with places of meeting, comfort and tasting. While some of them had to close due to the economic situation last year, others have not yet said their last word.
The Café-Boutique Les Malins aims to promote reading, especially among children. It begins with the exhibition of books to buy or borrow, all from the publisher Les Malins, specialist in children’s literature and owner of the place. “Reading isn’t boring,” proclaims the establishment’s black-and-white décor, which also includes a gas fireplace, a slide, and warm padded surfaces where you can sit comfortably and enjoy a hot drink or a sandwich.
“We are dreamers. We wanted that when a young person thinks of Les Malins, they think not just of books, but of an experience,” explains Marc-André Audet, owner of Éditions les Malins.
The boutique café is very popular. On a Wednesday after the snowstorm, almost every table is occupied. However, running a restaurant completely exhausted Mr. Audet. To be successful in the face of the rising costs that are affecting the restaurant industry requires constant attention, which the literature lover does not have.
The adventure will have lasted approximately two years and will end on February 8th. Several other literary cafes have recently turned around. Last July, Rosemont’s Au Vieux Bouc bookstore, which had a café, ceased operations after 14 years. The Librairie de Verdun closed its Café de la Troisième just over a year ago.
The Zorba café-bookstore, which opened in the summer of 2022 on Rue Saint-Hubert, did not survive much longer than a year. The owner, Abdelghani Messaoudi, a recent immigrant from Morocco, became involved in this project because of his passion for books. Customers could read, borrow or buy used books on site. Meetings with authors were also organized.
“This concept doesn’t exist often in Montreal and people liked it,” Mr. Messaoudi points out. Unfortunately, there were no book sales and inventory management was complex.
“It’s not worth running a café far from the city center. The consumption is too low compared to the rental price,” he adds.
Formulas for success
Nevertheless, a handful of booksellers and publishers believe they have found a recipe for success. Québec America Editions experienced a similar ordeal as Les Malins with their literary café Chez l’Éditeur, which opened in 2017, before changing their business model.
“I have long dreamed of a space where I can open myself up to people. “I like coffee too,” says Caroline Fortin, president of Éditions QuébecAmérique, with a laugh. We set out to build this, looking for the basics and putting together a team. It was a great experience but extremely demanding. »
Profitability had not yet been achieved when the COVID-19 pandemic turned everything upside down. “It made us realize that running two companies with two different perspectives is not profitable in the long term,” she admits.
Instead of reopening the cafe as it was, Ms. Fortin instead decided to open up commercial space in her premises at Cafe 8 oz. to rent, a roasting company with experience in coffee operations. “A coffee.” “You understand what you need to do to become profitable. I consider myself lucky to have met her,” says Ms. Fortin.
All of Quebec America’s production can be purchased locally, but book sales are marginal compared to food sales, estimates Xavier Girard, co-owner of Café 8 oz. He says he runs his business like any other coffee shop, with the current challenges that brings.
La Livrerie is a workers’ cooperative that opened on Ontario Street East in March 2020, courtesy of long-time residents of the neighborhood. “We didn’t just want to do business. We wanted to create a space where we could come together around literature,” explains co-founder Mylène Abboud, who was inspired by the Fédération des cafés-librairies de Bretagne.
The lockdown that came a few months later temporarily distracted them from their original goal and forced them to diversify their offerings. Online sales, ministerial approvals to serve institutional buyers, cafes, pastry shops, liquor licenses and special events are now the many strengths of their offering. Around 80% of their turnover comes from the sale of new books. Their growing customer base mainly lives in the small area around the café-bookstore.
“It is not the café that supports the bookstore, but an additional offering that contributes significantly to the sociable character of the place,” believes Ms. Abboud.
A double challenge
There are also a few café bookstores in Quebec, including Le mot de tasse. Owner Chantal Savoye is convinced that the two parts of her business complement each other.
“The café suffered during the pandemic, while the bookstore did well because people read a lot. I don’t know if we would still be here without the bookstore, says Ms. Savoye. A hybrid model allows you to develop one while the other is doing less well. »
Inflation now limits sales volumes for the two types of activities. The financial challenges will be significant this year, but Ms Savoye is far from wanting to close the business.
At the Quebec Booksellers Association, we point out that some of its members have long “offered spaces and services so that customers can live in the bookstore rather than just walk through it.”
“We are seeing this aspect more and more in the business models of new bookstores,” adds Jade Bergeron, co-director of the association. However, this addition represents both a risk and an opportunity. The success of these projects depends on the needs of her customers, she believes.
Marc-André Audet rightly notes that the café-boutique Les Malins meets a need in his community, especially because there is no bookstore in the area. While discussions are underway with people interested in taking over his business, he remains confident that a partnership with Les Malins can preserve the place’s literary bent.
To watch in the video
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