In a recent Twitter thread, the owner of Pulp Fiction -- a well-known Vancouver indie bookstore chain -- dispelled some common myths about Vancouver business closures and set the record straight about the shuttering of his Kitsilano location.
"Anyone who thinks that a retail business' number of locations says something about the health of that business does not understand business, period, full stop," says Chris Brayshaw who first established Pulp Fiction in June of 2000 and opened the Kitsilano location on West Broadway 21 years ago.
Brayshaw explains that back when he first opened there was still a case to be made for foot-traffic dependant shops. He describes the business model as, "a person sitting in a room full of interesting things" but says he doesn't believe it to hold true today.
"A business that simply consists of waiting for someone to walk through the front door either owns its own real estate or is run by someone very old," he asserts in the Twitter thread.
So why is the Kitsilano location closing?
Apparently, the Kits location's gross sales have increased every year over the last 21 years but the majority of sales come from large over-the-phone and email orders placed by loyal returning customers and not walk-ins. In fact, Brayshaw calls interactions with walk-in customers a frustrating experience because they often interrupt lengthy phone call orders and just want to talk about books.
When the landlord of the Kits Pulp Fiction proposed an alleged 30 per cent rent increase, Brayshaw made the decision to question if he was best serving his clients with a brick-and-mortar store since many of them seldom came into the shop in person.
"I spent a few days thinking through what this would mean for me; our staff; and the community we serve," he says. "The increase would transfer 100 per cent of the Kits location's profits to the landlord, so that was an automatic non-starter."
He concluded that a physical storefront was extraneous. "The same work can be done, same folks served, with fewer resources," he says.
Even after the landlord reportedly walked back the proposed increase from 30 per cent to 1.5 per cent, Brayshaw has decided that the Kits location will close at the end of the month, but there will be no staffing changes, and inventory will be relocated to the other two Pulp Fiction stores.
"I'm sure — as a moderately successful bookstore operator — that the right way forward is to dump the 'showroom of things' in favour of more personalized client service," he says.
Vowing to dedicate time to research, recommending, packing, and delivering--getting the massive backlog of buying to the shelves. This is not the end of Pulp Fiction, and Brayshaw promises that West Side customers will still be served with free local delivery and that there is a warehouse full of 1500+ boxes of unprocessed stock waiting to be unpacked, priced and put out.
