YVR's legendary independent bookstore. Est. 6/00. 'The pessimism of the intellect, the optimism of the will.' (Gramsci). 2024 certified Living Wage employer.
Learned overnight on Blu
@sky
that everyone here is opted into El0n's plagiarism machine; that it's possible to opt out via the link below; but, weirdly, the link is ONLY active on desktop:
1. Dusting off the old Covid Plan. Everyone on shift is wearing a employer supplied KN95 and is asymptomatic! Anyone with symptoms and/or symptoms in their household, even if they themselves are asymptomatic, is on full employer-paid leave.
BIG NEWS: our Commercial Drive shop will double in size later this spring, creating a "Main Street" size location in a heritage building on the Drive. Details to come!
Anticipating a full day of conspiratorial racist & antiscience cosplay here in Mount Pleasant. We are open until further notice, with 0% tolerance for the above. Anyone experiencing Truck Nut harassment is welcome to drop in & shelter in place.
COVID-19 update: all PFB staff are triple-vaxxed and will continue to mask up for the protection of other staff and immunocompromised clients for the foreseeable future.
Accosted by Roller Girl with a broccoli crown & she wanted me to know that PAYING FOR THE STALK IS BULLSHIT and that she'd SNAPPED IT OFF and that Nesters CALLED SECURITY and that's how my day's going.
This fire is a big one & I have to go in a sec. Please spare a thought for us (not currently on fire) & our much loved neighbors & friends. (Signed) Chris Brayshaw @ PFB
Back from northern BC. AC flight home, young bro's mask kept "accidentally" falling off his face. 1st warning, 2nd warning, 3rd. Run-up aborted, back to terminal, buddy kicked off to walk home to Alberta. Maybe he's still walking.
1. Took a while to add up the numbers, but today was the busiest day in PFB's 21 year and counting history. As always, thanks to everyone who chose to buy books from us, in our full idiosyncratic imperfection, & not from Bezos' empire.
Our friend
@greatdismal
's downsizing. Signed copies available now from Main for less than cover! Please, no dealers or speculators: the intent of Bill's generosity is to get signed copies into the hands of folks who can't attend a reading or purchase a new full price copy!
My twice-yearly reminder that if you can't afford to pay more than minimum wage, your so-called "business" model sucks & you should probably revise it before getting into business. Signed, 20 year+ small business owner not into arguing or debating the point
Guy standing at the front door w/ a hammer in his hand, 8:25pm:
ME: That sign means what it says. "No cash on premises."
HIM: Oh. Huh. Merry Christmas!
M: You OK?
H: No. Not really.
M: What would help?
H: $20 would help.
M: I can do that.
[Together]: MERRY CHRISTMAS!
"There's never been a single successful business on Main Street..." (Jimmy Pattison, in this signed copy of his autobiography we bought just now)
& PFB is 21 years old as of 11am tomorrow, so NUTS TO YOU, JIMMY! 😛
23 years tomorrow at 11am, and still mostly a joy I wouldn't trade. Lots of surprises this year, including an artwork - not mine! - made in the stacks late at night that will appear in due course. Thanks, everyone.
PFB is 22 years young today. Always a surprise to me. Great current batch of staff, great batch of 1st-name-basis regulars, & as I've said before, the stock has never been better. Looking forward to whatever the next 22 yrs brings!
6. This is what is meant by "community." We will be here through this plague and beyond, and we will not shortcut our way through it. (Signed) Christopher Brayshaw, owner, PFB
1. Single busiest day all 3 PFB locations have ever had, even Main Street, now 18.5 years old & counting. Just a little note from me, drinking Laphroaig, to all of you, to say, thank you. A few things can't be said enough:
New Commercial Drive lease is signed! 1744 Commercial (between 1st & 2nd), roughly double the square footage of the current Drive shop. Hopefully opening April 1st, which somehow seems appropriate. 😛
PFB is 18 years old this morning. Thanks to everyone who has ever bought a book, sold us books, ordered something, brought an animal by to visit, or just dropped in to grab the
@CSA_space
keys.
Busiest day of 2020. Thanks, Vancouver. Thanks, Lower Mainland. Thanks out-of-the-blue orders from Toronto & Thunder Bay. Thanks to the plumbing team fixing Main Street's ceiling leak. Thanks to everyone who has been patient and kind, visibly much more patient than usual.
-Hi I'm looking for poetry by Margaret Atwood. [helpfully] She's a Black author.
-Um. Um, yeah, no. I've got the books, but, trust me, she's an old white lady.
[pause]
-Maybe I mean Maya Angelou.
-Maybe you do.
Today broke Sat's record as "PFB's busiest day in [almost] 20 years of business." I wish I had a witty quip or other news, but am going to simply say, Thank you!, to those who have cared for this weird little ark set adrift into late capitalism's currents all those yrs. ago.
Just a brief PSA to say that things seem extra hard right now for many writers, artists, & musicians I know. You do not have to shoulder everything alone. If overwhelmed, or no longer able to sense a horizon, please get in touch. You are loved & not an island.
5. If the PHO closes retail...? We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but all staff will be paid by me, at their regular hourly wage, until we reopen. No one will be laid off because of plague, and no one will have to worry about the rent. Not my staff, or our landlords.
Reading & drinking is truly one of life's great joys, whatever Internet Man here thinks, & servers have always seemed happy to see me. Got a couple of dates over the years from my reading choices, too.😛
Please vote today, preferably for candidates who don't take marching orders from Bob Rennie, Chip Wilson, Mark Marissen, Peter Armstrong or Bruno Wall.
Your vote makes a huge difference to the texture of this city.
National Day for Truth & Reconciliation. All 3 PFBs are open as usual. 100% of today's profits will be donated to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSS).
Monday? We'll be open; business as usual. We will also be open Sep 30th for Truth & Reconciliation Day. As usual, 100% of profits on the 30th from all 3 PFBs will be donated to local Indigenous-led organizations.
-How much is this old book?
-$174.95
-It's for a movie. So, how much is it?
-$174.95
-We're just gonna use it as a prop!
-I don't price books based on their life after they leave here. Think of it like buying a pedigree kitten.
-There's no cats in this movie.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The little tree outside the front door, courtesy SG. Reliably a week ahead of every other 🌳 on the block; a reliable overachiever I spent the last 2 yrs nursing through multiple heat domes.
-I don't understand why these aren't sorted by decade.
-By decade?
-Yeah you know, "1970" on one shelf, "1990" on another. BY DECADE, like I said. I want to look at some OLD BOOKS.
-I don't know of any shop that files that way.
-Well, that's a problem for your industry.
COVID-19 update: PFB staff remain masked up until further notice, & we respectfully request that browsers also mask up, to protect the health of staff and other clients.
*OPINION* We should invest in programs that teach people how to identify misinformation and how to properly research whether something is true. Many people, myself included, would benefit. Without such programs, young people may struggle to determine truth their entire lives.
Co-signed, with all 3 PFBs participating. The President of the United States is a grifter, a fraud, and a pseudo-fascist, a weak bully who imagines himself as strong. My businesses stand in full opposition to his deliberate cruelty, in solidarity with those he torments.
We're joining our US colleagues in the
#BookstoresAgainstBorders
initiative. 15% of all sales revenue tomorrow thru July 7th will be donated to
@RAICESTEXAS
. Would love to see other Canadian indies signing on & standing together to support migrant rights (aka Human Rights!). xoxo
1. Quiet end to the single busiest day in our 20+ year history. Thanks, as always, to the book buyers; baked-goods- and liquor-droppers-off; to those bringing animal friends not baring their teeth when approached; to the forwarders of good links and internet memes.
Aaaaand we're HIRING (a thread). Despite plague, PFBs 1, 2, 3 & 3.5 have never been busier, and we're looking to add 1, maybe 2, staff to help keep the system running smoothly. These positions do NOT require previous bookstore experience, are 30-40 hrs/wk, & earn $20/hr.
-How do I know what price the books are.
-Everything's priced on its first white page, in pencil.
-How unusual.
[Deep breath] - How so?
-They're not all priced the same?
-Every book in here? No. Different prices. Just like at the grocery store.
-THEY don't sell books!
Fifth or sixth person this week sincerely wants to know why the books aren't arranged alphabetically by the author's FIRST name. Is this a thing anywhere in the world, or just a symptom of a more general critical decline?
Kingsgate Mall Tree of Giving, hung with Xmas wishes of youth. Every year I like to pull a few of these & fill them. Maybe you could, too. We're not called upon to do everything, just what is occasionally within our reach.
My mom & dad are getting the Bill Gates Microchip (TM; pat. pend.) right about now & my stress level(s) are down, down down. Looking forward to seeing them in the flesh in about 3 weeks, & being able to track them in Windows 10 any second now.
According to officials, the City of
#Vancouver
will soon remove a large spider sculpture that has been alarming some commuters 🕷️😱 .
The sculpture was installed beneath a bridge on the east side of the city, where it's visible to passengers on the Millenium Line Skytrain.
Announcing our acquisition, today, of UBC professor emerita Sneja Gunew's library. Sixty boxes of critical theory; feminist theory; world literature in translation; Indigenous studies; Indigenous & women's art; and a reasonable chunk of OP cookbooks & food writing.
PSA for Dose Espresso, Granville and Broadway. Zero online presence. Friendliest cafe in town, plus made from scratch baked goods Mon-Sat. Owner/operator is there 6 days and could always use some more $ in the till.
Stan Rath, out of pain, and, one hopes, at peace. My neighbor for something like a decade, an old-school owner-operator of unusually deep integrity. The eventual ceremony of life will be mobbed out for good reason. Good night Stan. Love you, man.
-Hi do you have a conspiracy section.
-What are you looking for?
[Silently hands me repeatedly folded-and-refolded piece of paper]
Upon unfolding, written in pencil in block capitals:
THE ALUMINUMATI
1. "Why don't you just stick to your lane. Tweet about books, about literature."
That's how authoritarianism always begins, with the demand to shut up. No explanation of why the stroppy demander sets the terms, why the rest of us should just labor quietly at our little tasks.
1. This is just a little late night note from me to say THANK YOU to everyone who has just discovered us; to everyone who has placed an order; and to everyone who has called or emailed asking if we are OK.
All 3 PFBs open regular hours for the foreseeable future. Happy (as usual) to take orders via phone, email, tweeter. Will mail at cost; free for $50+; will hand-deliver anywhere from Pemberton to Hope, also free for $50+ (eg., we will come to your place & drop off).
Some random guy:
-HEY just wonderin' if you'd like to sell your lease, boss man wants to open a "Fresh Slice" here.
-[UNPRINTABLE RESPONSE]
-Well, just keep us in mind.
1. Further to the RT below: we have a very simple Sick Leave policy. To wit: feeling (mentally/physically) sick? If so, don't come in to work. You will be paid your regular hourly wage for the missed hours.
2023's busiest day by far. Not going home til 11pm or later - special orders to process; daily sales to record - but very grateful to everyone who showed up today in the teeth of the recession with good humor and a seemingly insatiable appetite for books.
2023's busiest day. Busiest day in 23.5 years of business. A bit of a surprise - drizzly weekday ! - but we'll take it! Thanks to everyone who bought and/or ordered books today. You make it possible for us to continue doing work that is constantly amusing & rewarding.
1. Welp. Last 3 days = busiest PFB's ever had, each topping the last. Big THANKS to everyone who came from in some cases very far away (the Interior; the Island; the Coast; Philadelphia) to buy books. I know you have choices, and, as a friend says, I appreciate you!
Busiest day since yesterday, which was the busiest day since Christmas 2018. What the hell, Vancouver! Where did all of you come from? Signed, exhausted but cheerful local retailer.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation receipts! September 30th's profits were $1200 (rounded up), & donated today to Native Education College ($400); Urban Native Youth Association ($400); & the Indian Residential School Survivors Society ($400). Not enough, but a start.
Sunday 18 Dec: all 3 PFBs OPEN. Some staff are coming a long way to serve you. Please be patient if opening hours vary slightly from those posted, especially at our Kits branch.
The cost of living in
#Vancouver
continues to go up. The
#LivingWage
in Metro Van is now $25.68.
City of Vancouver workers should make enough to live here without needing to rely on food banks or second jobs.
Tell Council to reinstate the Living Wage:
Not retweeting the viral picture of the baby Nazis and their flags on Parliament Hill other than to say, believe people when they show you who they are.
Business as usual over here -- we've been doing free delivery for 6+ years throughout the Lower Mainland. New book sales way up in the last 2 weeks & a second full time delivery driver starts tomorrow. Hoping to peel some more folks off Bezos Dot Ca!
I was unable to include every independent bookshop in the country (obviously). But if you are a bookseller, please let me know how and what you're doing during this crisis. Thank you for the books!