BOOK CHAIN THINKING ABOUT HIRING AGENCY
By Adnews Staff
Chapters Inc. of Toronto may start looking for an agency to promote its book superstores early next year, commercial/event director Helena Aalto told Adnews this week. The company was formed by the merger this year of SmithBooks and Coles Book Stores. Right now, the company is concentrating on integrating the two book chains and opening the new stores, she explained. Some advertising is still being done by Coles agency Johnson Adams Nicholson of Brantford, Ont., but most is handled in-house. The first two large stores are opening in November, one in Burnaby, B.C. and the other in Burlington, Ont. Print advertising for these two stores will begin a week before they open. Up to four Toronto outlets are opening next year. The superstores will range in size from 20,000 square feet to 40,000 and will stock up to 100,000 titles. They will have live music and cooking and crafts demonstrations, and each store will have a Starbucks coffee shop in it. Chapters plans to open 50 stores in the next five to eight years.