Chapters
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1995, Toronto, Ontario |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario |
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Key people
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Heather Reisman |
| Products | Books, Music, DVD, Gifts |
| Parent | Indigo Books and Music |
| Website | www.chapters.indigo.ca |
Chapters is a Canadian big box bookstore banner owned by Indigo Books and Music. Formerly a separate company competing with Indigo, the combined company has continued to operate both banners since their merger in 2001. As of March 2013, it had 97 superstores and 134 small format stores.
Chapters Inc. was created in 1994 when founder and CEO, Lawrence Stevenson led the buyout and merger of Canada's two largest book chains at the time: Coles and SmithBooks (the Canadian division of U. K. book chain W. H. Smith). SmithBooks was acquired from Federal Industries and Coles was acquired from Southam Inc. Canadian General Capital and Pathfinder Capital bought these two chains to build large-format book superstores comparable to those of the American bookstore chains Barnes & Noble and Borders.
The new company was created in April 1995 and the first two book superstores were opened in November 1995. The original superstores were in Burlington, Ontario and Burnaby, British Columbia.
Chapters quickly changed the face of Canada's book selling industry. Previously, companies like Coles and Smithbooks had many small stores. Chapters built large box stores with a much larger product selection. Chapters provided chairs and couches for their customers, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and did not discourage reading inside the store. The company became Canada's largest book retailer, with 77 superstores branded as Chapters and more than 280 mall-based stores under the names Coles, SmithBooks (formerly the Canadian branch of W H Smith), Classic Bookshops, the Book Company, and Active Minds. However, the SmithBooks, the Book Company, and Classic Bookshops names have been gradually phased and locations rebranded as Coles stores in recent years. Canada's first book superstore, Toronto's World's Biggest Bookstore, once part of the Coles chain, was also owned by Chapters and had continued to operate under its original name.
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Wikipedia