Promising sales at the pre-opening of the French-language bookstore-boutique in Sudbury – ONFR

SUDBURY – The pre-opening of the bookstore-boutique at Place des Arts was eagerly awaited by the French-speaking community of Sudbury. The book sale has already started well this Friday afternoon even though the display has only just begun.

“It doesn’t stop, I don’t even have time to put the books on the shelves,” says enthusiastically the general director Monica Meza Giron, newly hired for this position after more than a year of research.

After successful tests carried out the day before, the bookstore-boutique cash register has already worked well. The one who recently moved to Sudbury from Montreal explains that curious people showed up even before the pre-opening to take a look at the establishment awaited since the opening of Place des Arts, more than a year ago and half.

“We had a gentleman who came in this morning and wanted to take photos then ended up buying a book and others had already placed an order,” she confides.

A survey as well as public consultations were carried out in order to best meet customer expectations, also specifies the young director.

“People responded well, then we also had some funny proposals,” she laughs, explaining that some people suggested selling newspapers, for example.

She also noticed that many of the suggestions were for poetry: “Sudbury is a poetry town, whereas in other places it’s very niche. »

“It was the missing piece,” says Denise Truax, general director at Éditions Prize de parole, one of the organizations behind the project. According to her, the strategic location of the bookstore-boutique, with its large bay window, is consistent with the idea of ​​making the Francophonie visible in Sudbury.

The spotlight on indigenous authors

Although there are several boxes left to unpack, the section dedicated to works by indigenous authors is the most comprehensive, a priority for the boutique bookstore.

“It’s beautiful literature and also new perspectives that I discover even more by being here,” says the woman who is having her first experience in a bookstore.

The newcomer to Sudbury says she is pleasantly surprised by the presence of several Indigenous communities in the city and around Place des Arts.

And added: “The idea is to highlight indigenous authors. » This Saturday, during the second pre-opening mid-day, visual artist Will Morin, from the Michipicoten First Nation, is giving a presentation at the boutique bookstore as part of the Sudbury Art Crawl.

Books from the city’s former bookstore Le Grand Ciel bleu, which closed its doors in 2011 due to financial difficulties, will eventually be placed in a trunk of used books to give them a second life.

People have already asked to donate their old books which the bookstore will be able to resell at a reduced price, rejoices the bookseller.

“We also want to have a Franco-Ontarian section,” said Ms. Giron, adding that other sections will be devoted to works by authors from Quebec and Francophones from other regions.

An official inauguration will take place next January, when the new name of the boutique bookstore will be revealed. In the meantime, the bookstore will be open Tuesday to Saturday with possible adjustments during the holiday period.