It’s the end of an era for a community institution.
The Orange Toad specialty coffee shop and second-hand bookstore will no longer be accepting books for trade, with plans to drop the book-selling element of the business in the near future.
“It’s not feasible anymore,” said Meghan Lukowich, owner of the café that has operated in Flin Flon for 12 years.
A book-lover herself, Lukowich said the decision was difficult. It is one that she has deliberated over for a few years as the business has evolved.
“When I started out, it was going to be a bookstore with a very small coffee side, just to-go coffee,” she said.
While the café side of the business boomed, the book sales gradually dropped, she said.
“The used bookstore was really busy at the beginning and people were really using the service, but with e-books, e-readers and just technology it’s completely died off,” Lukowich said.
She said that maintaining the bookstore, including assigning credit to customers for books on trade, has required considerable time from staff.
That expense is difficult to justify when the bookstore does not add much to the business’ bottom line.
“There are a lot of books coming in for trade, and very few going out. We do have some loyal book readers that like to have pages to turn, like myself, but not enough to keep it going.”
According to manager Jackie Hucaluk, sales of books are minimal compared to food and beverage sales at the café, with one to three books sold or traded a day—and there are days when no books are sold at all.
Lukowich said for the near future, customers will still be able to buy, but not trade, books, as she wants to give people a chance to use up credit they have earned over the years.
When asked if she thinks Flin Flon and area could support a bookstore, Lukowich said she wishes it were possible, but it is hard to find a model that is workable.
“If we were just a book store, we would not be able to pay our rent,” she said.
“Maybe there are other angles that would work, to make it successful.”
As for the future of the Orange Toad, Lukowich said she is considering several ideas for the added space that will come as the books file out of the shop.
“Once the majority of the books are gone…we would like to add a few more tables, and then there’s some more ideas I’ve been tossing around…but nothing is set in stone yet.”
As an avid reader, Lukowich said the transition is a bittersweet one.
“I am sad to see the books go, because I love them, and I love used book stores,” she added. “However, it’s exciting that maybe we can do something else.”
