Tanglewood Books in Kitsilano is one of the city’s few remaining second-hand bookstores, located in a heritage building that suits its style and customer base.
While it did have to close its second store about three years ago, Tanglewood has fared better than the many independent first-hand and second-hand bookstores in Vancouver that went out of business in the last 10 years, even before the recession.
Tanglewood’s manager, Alan Floyd, says, “Like most second-hand bookstores that are staying afloat, we’re staying there just by the skin of our teeth.” He attributes the difficulty in book-selling to the wide variety of electronic media that’s become available in the past few years, such as e-readers, combined with Vancouver’s ever-rising rents.
