The World's Biggest Bookstore was a bookstore in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 20 Edward St, just north of the

Toronto Eaton Centre CF Toronto Eaton Centre, commonly referred to simply as the Eaton Centre, is a shopping mall and office complex in the Downtown Toronto, downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and managed by Cadillac Fairview (CF). It was named ...

and the Atrium on Bay. Operating from 1980 until 2014, the three-storey store covered 64,000 square feet and was noted for its bright lights and over 20 kilometres of bookshelves.

History

The store was founded by Jack Cole and Carl Cole, the former owners of Coles Bookstore. At the time of its opening in November 1980, in a converted building that had housed the Olympia

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...

, it was unchallenged in its claim as the biggest bookstore in the world. Although it retained the name, the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

listed the

Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (doing business as BNED, after its New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol) is one of the largest operators of college bookstores in the United States. As of the end of 2020, Barnes & Noble Education operated 760 camp ...

location on

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

in New York City as the largest bookstore in the world based on floor space, although

Powell's Books Powell's Books is a chain of bookstores, based in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon. Their flagship store, dubbed Powell's City of Books, claims to be the largest independent bookstore, independent new and used bookstore in the world. In addit ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, is usually considered the largest based on shelf-space. Nevertheless, World's Biggest Bookstore claimed the title on the basis that it carried the most titles. The Barnes & Noble location closed in early 2014. On December 22, 2010, Maruzen and Junkodou Shoten opened a 73,000 square foot (6804 m²) bookstore in the

Umeda is a major commercial, business, shopping and entertainment district in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, where the city's main northern railway termini ( Ōsaka Station, Umeda Station) are located. The district's name means "plum field". History Umeda ...

district of

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan, overtaking these other three in terms of floor space. WorldBiggestBookstore2

The store made a brief appearance in the movie ''

Short Circuit 2 ''Short Circuit 2'' is a 1988 American science fiction comedy film, the sequel to the 1986 film ''Short Circuit''. It was directed by Kenneth Johnson and starred Fisher Stevens as Ben Jahrvi, Michael McKean as Fred Ritter, Cynthia Gibb as Sand ...

'' when the main character, a robot named

Johnny 5 ''Short Circuit'' is a 1986 American science fiction comedy film directed by John Badham and written by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock. The film centers on an experimental military robot that is struck by lightning and gains a Artificial intell ...

, enters the store and creates chaos as he reads through the books. On June 20, 2012, it was reported that the lease on the store's building, set to expire at the end of 2013, would not be renewed, and the store would close. In November 2013 it was announced that the property at 20 Edward Street had been sold to Lifetime Developments, and the store would close in mid-February and vacate the building by April. In February 2014, a press release by Paracom Realty Corporation stated that the site would be redeveloped and leased to four restaurants designed by Turner Fleisher Architects. The closure date was revised to the end of March 2014. The bookstore closed for the last time on March 30, 2014. The structure was demolished in November 2014. The site was developed as Panda Condominiums with leasing for retail and office spaces. As of October, 2020 it was still under construction.

Advertising

In the late 1990s, with customers' book shopping habits radically changing after the launch of Chapters and Indigo, the store chose to play up its "no frills" image with an advertising campaign that included the following slogans: * "We occasionally have soft mood lighting. But then we replaced the burnt out fluorescent tubes." * "Like other bookstores, we have places to sit. But why aggravate your hemorrhoids?" * "Books priced so low even people who don't read too good is buying them." These self-deprecating slogans are in the style of Toronto's landmark bargain store,

Honest Ed's Honest Ed's was a landmark discount store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was named for its proprietor, Ed Mirvish, who opened the store in 1948 and oversaw its operations for almost 60 years until his death in 2007. The store continued to operat ...

References

{{Coord, 43.657008, N, 79.382355, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Shops in Toronto Demolished buildings and structures in Toronto Indigo Books and Music 1980 establishments in Ontario 2014 disestablishments in Ontario Defunct retail companies of Canada Retail companies established in 1980 Retail companies disestablished in 2014 Buildings and structures demolished in 2014