Renaud-Bray is the largest chain of

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

s in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, and the largest bookstore chain in Canada after

Chapters Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

Indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

. The chain was founded in 1965 by Pierre Renaud and Edmond Bray, with the opening of its first store on

Côte-des-Neiges Road Côte-des-Neiges Road (officially in french: chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges) is a street in Montreal, home to Plaza Côte-des-Neiges. It is served by Métro Côte-des-Neiges and two bus lanes. BIXI bike rental is also available. It extends from the ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The chain began its expansion in 1978, opening other branches in Montreal (on Laurier Avenue,

Saint Denis Street Saint Denis Street (officially in french: Rue Saint-Denis) is a major north–south thoroughfare in Montreal, Quebec. It extends from the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel on Rue Saint-Paul (Montreal), Saint Paul Street in Old Montreal to the ba ...

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

, and Peel Street). At the same time, it began computerizing its inventory, becoming one of the first bookstores to do so. In 1995, Renaud-Bray opened a large store on

Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...

Toronto 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 ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. This store was a major failure and, in 1996, Renaud-Bray entered

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

protection. The chain, however, survived. In the summer of 1999, Renaud-Bray purchased two of its competitors in Quebec: Librairie Garneau and Librairie Champigny, giving it 23 outlets across the province. As of September 27, 2016, the company's website lists 29 locations including 12 in

, 3 in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

and 2 in

Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

. In May 2015,

Quebecor Quebecor Inc. is a Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company serving Québec based in Montreal. It was spelled Quebecor in both English and French until May 2012, when shareholders voted to add the acute accent, Québecor, in F ...

signed an agreement to sell the 14 retail stores of

Archambault Archambault, is the largest music retailer in the province of Quebec, Canada, as well as a major retailer of books, DVDs, periodicals, musical instruments, sheet music, games, toys and gift ideas. Its e-commerce site, www.archambault.ca, is the ...

and the single unit Paragraph Anglophone bookstore to Renaud-Bray. Renaud-Bray indicated they did not have intentions to immediately change the names of the newly acquired stores; they would keep the distinct brands and manage them as separate entities. The sale was completed in September 2015 after receiving regulatory approval from the

Competition Bureau The Competition Bureau (french: Bureau de la concurrence) is the competition regulator in Canada. It is an independent Canadian law enforcement agency that ensures that markets operate in a competitive, innovative manner. Headed by the Comm ...

. Renaud-Bray acquired the book distributor Prologue in 2017.

References

External links

Renaud-Bray
{{Authority control Bookstores of Canada Companies based in Montreal Retail companies established in 1965