McNally Robinson Booksellers is a family-operated chain of

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

independent bookstore An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, cl ...

s founded in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

in 1981. It is managed by new owners Chris Hall and Lori Baker, formerly managed by Holly and Paul McNally. As of 2019 it had three branches, two in Winnipeg and one in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, as well as a sister-store McNally Jackson in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Overview

''McNally Robinson'' was founded by Holly McNally in 1981 in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, with her partner Ron Robinson, who quit the book business a year later to pursue a career with

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

. Robinson's name has remained attached to the enterprise because at the time he left, McNally didn't have the money to replace the store's signage. Beginning with just one small corner bookstore, Holly and her husband Paul gradually built ''McNally Robinson Booksellers'' into one of the largest independent bookstores in Canada, spreading to

and (formerly)

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. The stores host readings and book launches by authors from Winnipeg, Canada and beyond. McNally Robinson operates three stores: at Grant Park Mall in Winnipeg, at The Forks in Winnipeg and on ''8th Street'' in Saskatoon,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. A former Calgary location closed at the end of July, 2008. Two other locations, one at the

Polo Park Polo Park (corporately styled as CF Polo Park) is a shopping centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is situated on the former Polo Park Racetrack near the junction of Portage Avenue and St. James Street. Its grounds also includes a Scotiaban ...

in Winnipeg and another at the Shops at Don Mills in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, closed in December 2009. All current McNally Robinson stores are larger than 2000 square metres. Grant Park and Saskatoon locations are home to a full-service licensed restaurant, ''Prairie Ink''. McNally Robinson provides access to

print on demand Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology and business process in which book copies (or other documents, packaging or materials) are not printed until the company receives an order, allowing prints of single or small quantities. While oth ...

books via the

Espresso Book Machine The Espresso Book Machine (EBM) is a print on demand (POD) machine created by On Demand Books. It prints, collates, covers, and binds a single book in a few minutes. Introduced in 2007, EBM is small enough to fit in a retail bookstore or small ...

. On December 3, 2004, a store was opened in downtown Manhattan, New York City. The store operates under the name McNally Jackson and is owned and operated by Sarah McNally, daughter of the founders. It is one of the largest independent bookstores in Manhattan. On October 3, 2012, McNally Robinson was sold by its founders, Holly and Paul McNally, to business partners Chris Hall and Lori Baker.{{cite web, url = http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/books/2012/10/03/mcnally-robinson/, url-status = dead, archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121004233410/http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/books/2012/10/03/mcnally-robinson/, archive-date = 2012-10-04, title = McNally Robinson Booksellers is sold - CBC Manitoba

Awards

McNally Robinson sponsors two literary awards: *

McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award The McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award is associated with the Manitoba Book Awards and was established in 1988. It is presented to the Manitoba writer whose adult English language book is judged the best written. The author receives a cash awar ...

* McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award

References

External links

McNally Robinson BooksellersMcNally Robinson Book for Young People Award
Companies based in Winnipeg Independent bookstores of Canada