- published: 14 Mar 2016
- views: 2231864
Chapters is a Canadian big box bookstore banner owned by Indigo Books and Music. Formerly a company in its own right competing with Indigo, the combined company has continued to operate both banners since their merger in 2001.
Chapters Inc. was created in 1994 when founder and CEO, Lawrence Stevenson led the buyout and merger of Coles and SmithBooks, Canada's two largest book chains at the time. SmithBooks was acquired from Federal Industries and Coles was acquired from Southam Inc. Canadian General Capital and Pathfinder Capital bought these two chains with the intention of building large-format book superstores comparable to those of the American bookstore chains Barnes and Noble and Borders.
The new company was officially created in April 1995 and the first two book superstores were opened in November 1995. The original superstores were located in Burlington, Ontario and Burnaby, British Columbia.
Chapters quickly changed the face of the book selling industry in Canada. 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 the reading of books inside the store. The company became the largest book retailer in Canada, 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 have been 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.