I’ve heard good things about La Bonne Novelle bookstore in Moncton, New Brunswick, and in the past several years they had welcomed a number of Canadian writers who are members of The Word Guild to do author events there. Alas, I just heard today that the store will close on June 20 — the same year it is celebrating its 75th anniversary.
According to this June 10th article in The Times & Transcript, “The entire operation is a non-profit registered charity, operated by a board of directors. In recent years, the store hadn’t made any profits it could put back into its mission.”
“The board of directors of Mission La Bonne Nouvelle announced the closure this week, citing various reasons for the closure of the St. George Street staple, including high transportation costs, closure of a major Canadian distributor leading to increased U.S. purchasing, the lower value of the Canadian dollar, increased competition via the Internet and other stores and the current economic situation.”
The store was unique. It generated profits to support four French Baptist churches in the Moncton area. While it served French Baptist churches, the store also sold items to churches and people of all denominations. Nine employees, two of whom have worked at the store for longer than 30 years, will find themselves out of work after June 20.
Since Blessings Christian Marketplace in Moncton also closed last year, local churches and customers may have to order online.
2 Comments
June 11, 2009 at 7:41 am
Learning La Bonne Nouvelle is closing is a great loss to the Christian community of New Brunswick. My prayers go with each member of the board and staff as I know that leaving the bookstore will be like leaving family, friends and a second home.
Sincerely,
Elaine Ingalls Hogg
Author
June 11, 2009 at 6:08 pm
So sad. So sorry to hear. What is it about 75 years? For RGM it was almost 75 years, for Berean Stores USA (announced yesterday) it was 75 years. Weird.