12/27/2023 0 Comments Indigo books and music inc torontoIn subsequent years, Coles expanded across Canada, opening one of the first book superstores, a 67,000-square-foot retail location called The World's Biggest Bookstore that opened in Toronto in 1980. Coles was founded by brothers Carl and Jack Cole, who opened their first bookstore in Toronto in 1940. The beginning of Stevenson's empire was formed through the acquisition and merger of the two largest bookstore chains in Canada, Coles and SmithBooks. Meanwhile, Stevenson was able to actualize on the dream both he and Reisman shared. Reisman retreated, but she would be back. Reisman's venture failed to get off the ground, its launch aborted by the greater appeal of the Peterson-led Chapters in the Canadian government's eyes. Canada's federal government generally frowned upon the idea of a foreign company insinuating itself into Canadian culture, a mindset that presumably worked in Stevenson's favor, or at least one that Stevenson attempted to exploit. Stevenson enlisted the support of David Peterson, the former minister of Ontario, naming him chairman of his company, Chapters, Inc. The plan might have worked, but when a corporate consultant and financier named Larry Stevenson entered the market with the same intention as Reisman, her plan unraveled. The plan was to combine the reputations and the finances of the trio, underpinned by Borders' well-regarded ordering technology, and invade Canada through a minority stake in Borders. She enlisted the help of partners, convincing coffee mogul Michael Bregman, owner of Second Cup, and a book retailer in Toronto named Edward Borins to back her entry into the Canadian book-selling market. success of Borders onto a Canadian company and grab hold of the industry. Reisman left Cott and re-emerged in a different industry, endeavoring to take on the retail market for books.Īcross the border, a giant book retailer named Borders was enjoying the rewards of market preeminence. Cott's chairman, Gerry Pencer, responded to the situation by hiring another executive in 1994, Dave Nichol, that cast Reisman to the sidelines. Reisman acknowledged she was several weeks late in filling the documents, attributing the oversight to a back injury that kept her away from her office. In 1993, Reisman made a profit of C$1.6 million selling Cott stock options without filing the required insider trading documents within the ten-day period mandated by the Canadian government. Her success at Cott was convincing, but in the midst of the rousing financial growth she made an error that cut short her career at the bottling company. At Cott, Reisman solidified her reputation, leading the company toward double-digit annual growth during the early 1990s. She co-founded a management consulting firm, Paradigm Consulting, in 1979, earning the esteem and making the contacts that eventually put her in charge of a soft drink bottling company named Cott Corporation. Reisman, the principal agent of change in the process of industry consolidation, began her professional career as a social worker before entering the corporate world. In reference to Canada's retail book industry, Lorinc wrote that "no other sizable developed country has let ownership of bookselling become so concentrated." The industry was, he added, "The closest thing to an unregulated monopoly in Canada's private sector." John Lorinc, a reporter for the Report on Business Magazine, gave his assessment of the aftermath of fight between Stevenson and Reisman in the October 2002 issue of the magazine. The effect of their battle on the industry was profound. On the other side, Heather Reisman grappled with Stevenson, using her company, Indigo, to fight for market supremacy. On one side stood Larry Stevenson, the chief executive officer of Chapters, Inc., Canada's largest retailer of books. Within the space of a few short years, two retail giants emerged as the only contenders for market dominance. The number of independent bookstores dwindled, their presence diminished by the rise of large chains of superstores designed to eradicate competitors. Indigo also maintains an online presence through the Web site, which sells books, gifts, videos, and DVDs.ĭuring the 1990s, the business of selling books in Canada changed dramatically. Indigo operates 88 superstores and 179 mall stores. The company's stores, operating under the names Indigo Books, Music & More, The World's Biggest Bookstore, and Coles, are located throughout Canada. is the largest retailer of books in Canada.
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