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News: David Mirvish Books to Close

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Sad News: David Mirvish Books on Art, a Toronto art-and-lit institution (with a Frank Stella painting to boot) told employees earlier this week that it will be closing February 5 or thereabouts. The Globe Books blogger James Adams went public with the news yesterday. The bookstore had already informally started to notify people coming in with gift certificates that they should use them up before the end of the month. I understand that Amazon has got the best of most bookstores, but this is a shock. For some time, people informally speculated that the bookstore was losing money but still retained value to the owner because it anchored Mirvish-owned real estate on Markham. In the meantime, the store has slashed prices on books throughout the store. It seems just a short while ago that Ballenford Books on the same strip closed its doors. More news as it becomes available.

Photo by PinkMoose.

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8 comments

  1. Very sad, such a good place to spend an hour, and then usually end up buying something. Here is what @JordanClair tweeted last night on Twitter:

    “Mirvish Books on Art is closing – I loved the sounds of shopping there, acoustics unlike any other bookstore, better sou ndspace than library ”

    It’s true it’s true. What will happen to the Frank Stella? I hope it stays public somewhere, it worked so well there. Perhaps it can join the Stella piece that hangs in the new AGO restaurant.

  3. That’s a really really bad news……..

  5. “It’s true it’s true. What will happen to the Frank Stella? I hope it stays public somewhere, it worked so well there. Perhaps it can join the Stella piece that hangs in the new AGO restaurant.”

    Or maybe it can remain in situ?

    Keep in mind that the Mirvish space is itself an architectural gem by John Andrews at his Louis Kahn-inspired best, it’s been lovingly cared for and respected, even for its “architectonic” qualities (its cross-section diagram was featured on DM bookmarks for ages). I think there is an absolutely valid heritage argument for it, especially now that its future is in flux.

  6. Is there more backstory? Was it a rent increase or just incremental attrition?

  7. According to the blog, DM is saying there is no one reason that the store is closing, mostly just the usual factors challenging bookstores these days.

    David Mirvish Books holds a lot of memories for me. I exhibited artwork in my first group show in Toronto at that store.

  8. It’s sad to see independant book stores closing. It’s getting harder and harder to find unique bookstores these days. It’s even more alarming the Big Box stores like Borders are struggling