Mall bookstore closing after 45 years
Coles McAllister Place closing in April, with customers directed to Indigo East Point
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Two years after the closure of the Coles bookstore uptown, owners Indigo announced that the store in McAllister Place will also close next week.
A notice posted on the store’s Facebook account Tuesday and inside the location in Saint John’s east-side mall says the store is closing April 6 after 45 years. The notice directs customers to indigo.ca and to the Indigo East Point store on Fashion Drive.
“Our store has become a place to gather and be inspired,” the notice reads. “We could not have done it without our wonderful staff and our incredible customers.”
The Coles bookstore chain was founded in Toronto in 1940 and was part of a merger with SmithBooks in 1995 to form Chapters, which itself merged with Indigo Books and Music in 2001, according to Indigo’s website.
Indigo spokesperson Madison Downey said the chain’s practice is to “regularly review and optimize” its real estate portfolio.
“We consider many factors when we make these decisions, including store profitability,” she wrote in a statement confirming the store’s closure. “We are working closely with all employees to ensure they are fully supported through this transition. We remain deeply dedicated to serving the Saint John community at Indigo East Point.”
The Indigo store at the East Point Shopping complex opened in 2008, and is one of the chain’s “large format stores,” according to its website. The Coles location uptown in Brunswick Square closed in 2021 and another store had once operated in Lancaster Mall on the west side, according to Brunswick News archives.
Primaris REIT, which operates McAllister Place, did not respond to a request for comment.
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