Beach Reads Bookshop

Shop Talk is an occasional feature in which fledgling independent booksellers take Q&Q into their stores and share their reasons for opening and what business has been like so far. 

Beach Reads Bookshop
230 St George St.
Port Dover, Ontario

The idea for Beach Reads Bookshop can be traced back to early 2020, when the nearest chain bookstore to Anthony Randall and Robyn York – a Coles in nearby Simcoe, Ontario – closed for the last time. 

That spring, Randall and York were looking at Rocky Mountain Books publisher Don Gorman’s independent bookstore map when they realized there was an indie desert in Norfolk and Haldimand counties, which are located on the north shore of Lake Erie in Southwestern Ontario. Inspired to do something about the lack of bookstores in their region, York started to put together a business plan that would add a retail space to her artist-book publishing business, Anchorless Press.

The pair found a vacant retail space in Randall’s hometown of Port Dover, the beach community on Lake Erie. Beach Reads Bookshop opened its doors on November 18, 2022. The store is about 800 square feet, with two full-time and one occasional staffer. Beach Reads sells new and used books, with second-hand titles making up about 30 per cent of the stock. 

“We took a bit of a risk opening a shop off Main Street,” York says of the store’s mid-century home in a residential neighbourhood zoned for commercial use. “But with parking at the front, a mid-century style that just needed a little love, and a garage we can use for art exhibitions during the warmer months, the Beach Reads home was a perfect fit for our business.”

York recently spoke to Q&Q about what the first year and a half of business have been like for Beach Reads Bookshop.

Anthony Randall and Robyn York

Why open Beach Reads Bookshop? What was it about Port Dover that inspired you to open the store?

In conversation, a close friend had mentioned the town would make a great home for a Type Books–inspired beachy outpost. Having spent years in Toronto’s west-end Junction neighbourhood, we were spoiled with great bookshops and record stores with used books, so we envisioned a bit of all our favourite spots when we started planning. 

How has the community and its readers responded to the store?

We have been welcomed with open arms by our community. Port Dover has never had a new bookstore, but had a used bookstore for a few years in the early 2000s, so we were in a bit of uncharted waters when we opened.

With the help of an A-frame sign wheeled out to Main Street every morning, folks have found us. We are lucky to be a decent road trip distance from Hamilton, London, Guelph, Niagara, and attract readers from other cities and towns.

How do you reach potential readers?

We host a lot of events, post on social media, and run the occasional ad in the still independent Port Dover Maple Leaf. Our “Boozy Book Fair” is a popular event we hold a few times a year, which lets us highlight favourite breweries from around Norfolk County combined with night shopping at the bookstore.

What are your goals for the bookstore? Does the store have any special focus?

With limited space, we focus on responding to our customers with an active special-order business (more than 400 books in the past year), and try our best to guess what folks are interested in reading. Our top 12 books last year included two books by local author and national treasure Adam Shoalts, and a local cookbook published by the restaurateurs from the now closed Crepe House. With a small shop, we make time to talk with customers to help them find what they are looking for, whether it’s a good read or a perfect gift for their favourite reader.

We both like to expand the idea of “the beach read” to include more than top-selling hits (although those are fun too). Last year, we were happy to participate in the Literary Publishers Group promotion “A beach read is just a book at the beach,” as that’s an ethos we share with our customers year round. 

What has been most surprising or unexpected about opening a bookstore or about your first few months in business?

The used books just keep coming: we have a substantial used book section, and folks bring in books continually. We have developed a trade-credit program for our avid readers – the ones who don’t dog-ear their books.

This interview has been edited and condensed.