Renaud-Bray
La librairie Renaud-Bray is the largest chain of French-language bookstores in North America, and the largest bookstore chain in Canada after Chapters/Indigo.
The chain was founded in 1965 by Pierre Renaud and Edmond Bray, with the opening of its first store on Côte-des-Neiges Road in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The chain began its expansion in 1978, opening other branches in Montreal (on Laurier Avenue, Saint Denis Street, Park Avenue, and Peel Street). At the same time, it began computerizing its inventory, becoming one of the first bookstores to do so.
In 1995, Renaud-Bray opened a large store on Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario. This store was a major failure, and in 1996 Renaud-Bray entered bankruptcy protection. The chain survived, however.
In the summer of 1999, Renaud-Bray purchased two of its competitors in Quebec: Librairie Garneau and Librairie Champigny giving it 23 outlets across the province.[1]
It now has 25 locations.
In May 2015, Quebecor signed an agreement to sell the 14 retail stores of Archambault and the single unit Paragraph Anglophone bookstore to Renaud-Bray.[2][3] The sale was completed in September 2015 after receiving regatory approval from the Competition Bureau.[4] For the moment, Renaud-Bray is not going to change the names of the newly acquired stores.
References
- ↑ Joly, Patrick & Sabbagh, Michel (2011). "Non-price Strategies in the Canadian Online Book Industry". In Chen, Zhiqi & Duhamel, Marc. Industrial Organization in Canada: Empirical Evidence and Policy Challenges. Carleton Library Series 220. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. pp. 175–176. ISBN 9780773585881.
- ↑ "Quebecor agrees to sell Archambault to Renaud-Bray: Paragraphe Bookstore, as well as Archambault's 14 retail stores and website included in sale". CBC News. 2015-05-19.
- ↑ Van Praet, Nicolas (2015-05-19). "Quebecor to sell Archambault book-store business to Renaud-Bray". The Globe and Mail.
- ↑ "Renaud-Bray Completes the Acquisition of Archambault". Morningstar (Press release). 2015-09-28.