Sad but true, my favourite comic book store in town, Elfsar, (who I first blogged about almost 2 years ago) is closing tomorrow. As you can read in the blog post, their rent got hiked over 250%, and that was that. They've got a big sale on, so if you're in town this weekend, show your support, get some cheap books, and bid your farewells.

After losing Duthie Books a few months ago, and hearing news of Sophia Books closing at the end of the month for the very same reason as Elfsar (more info on Cory Doctorow's blog), this comes as a huge blow to comic and book lovers alike. Duthie and Elfsar were my absolute favourites (and Sophia a place I'd poke around now and then because it's close to where I work), and I now find myself asking where I'm supposed to go for trusted stocks of interesting and hand curated books, comics, and graphic novels?

Sure, Book Warehouse (a discount bookstore chain) is all over the place, and it is a locally owned company, but they don't carry books from all publishers, and what specific books they carry varies heavily depending on who works there (like, the one on Denman has an ok, ableit tiny, section of graphic novels because one of the guys who works there orders them in). 

Personally, I'd much rather shop at a bookstore where I feel like the staff has specially selected the stock, filtered out the crap, and then also highlighted the best of the best of Canadian authors, quirky stories, and specialty books. Where I can walk in, and trust the opinions of the people who have set up the featured racks, to the point where I hardly have to think about whether I will like any of the books there, because I already know I will.

My favourite project management writer, Michael Lopp (aka. Rands in Repose), just wrote a fantastic post about this very topic earlier in the week. He talks about "the shop", a mythical store where every item has been hand selected for you, even though you might not know you want it yet. Where the person running the shop has honed their opinion on all of what is good and interesting, and is so trustworthy, that you know what is there is not only perfect for you, but will serve you well despite not being something you know you need. He leaves off saying:

The shop I want is full of people who are dedicated to their opinion. Who are happier understanding a thing rather than wanting it. These people will happily tell the story of happen[ing] upon this opinion and I want to hear it because the opinion of someone I trust is just as valuable as my own.

The thing is, these shops exist all over the physical world, in cities like Vancouver...or at least, they did. 

Blame greedy property landlords for driving up rents. Blame consumers who are ignorant, prioritizing quantity over quality, or just don't care. Blame the city for not doing more to protect these gems. 

All I know is that each one of these fine shops will not be coming back, and that the example being set sure isn't going to encourage any new shops like this to turn up. And this makes me sad. It makes me sad, and it makes me less likely to spend my money in this city. I don't want to buy my books at Chapters, or through Amazon if i can help it. The next closest bookstores I love are Munro's in Victoria, and Powell's in Portland. Not exactly around the corner.

I want to invest in passionate people in my community who are giving me a service that those companies never can. And that option is being taken away from me. What now?