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Coles is a chain of bookstores in Canada, they currently operate in 9 provinces and 1 territory. They formerly operated in New Brunswick until April 2024. They have been a subsidiary of !ndigo since 2001.
History[]
In 1940, Carl and Jack Cole opened the first Cole's location in Toronto, ON. The store quickly caught on, and soon after, they began to open new stores across Canada.
In the 1960s, they began to sell low cost books from Canadian authors. These books were rare and not sold in many places, so Cole's became one of the only retailers that sold certain books, which made the chain more popular. in the same decade, many shopping centres began to open coast to coast across Canada, Cole's took advantage of this and started opening locations in shopping centres across Canada. As these malls were very popular at the time, these stores became very successful, and Cole's became a staple retailers in Canadian malls.
in order to limit competition in the Canadian book store market, Cole's bought the naming rights to various American book stores such as Waldenbooks and Borders Books. When these chains eventually wanted to expand into the Canadian market, they weren't able to since the naming rights in Canada were owned by Cole's.
In 1973, Cole's expanded into the American market, their first location in the states opened in Buffalo, NY. By the next decade, they had over 50 locations in America. However, these stores weren't making enough profit for the company, so the American division was sold off to Kmart in 1987 and the locations were rebranded to Waldenbooks.
In 1978, the two brothers sold Cole's to Southam Inc. Eventually, the chain was once again sold, Pathfinder Capital became the new owners of Cole's.
A former Cole's in Hamilton, ON which closed in 2024
Cole's opened their flagship store in Toronto, ON in 1980. According to the chain, this store was the largest book store in the world at the time. This store closed in 2014.
In 1995, Cole's and Chapter's, another Canadian book store, merged to make one company. Both stores continued to operate.
In 2001, Chapter's Inc was purchased by !ndigo. Since the buyout, many Cole's and Chapter's locations have been rebranded as Indigo or have permanently closed. However, both chains continue to operate today across Canada.
Locations[]
- Main article: Coles (Bookstore)/Locations
See Also[]
- Chapter's - Another book store chain which has been a part of Cole's since 1995
- Indigo - The parent company of Cole's