Bookstore visit

    There was snow everywhere when I went outside this afternoon. Compared to that cold weather last Saturday, it was such a wonderful day! The snow view was beautiful. Even though I had to clean the ice and snow on my car--I was preparing for my visit to Chapters at Kennedy Commons Plaza. It’s not the closest bookstore to my home, but it was the closest one I found with a children’s book area. To be honest, I don’t visit bookstores frequently. My last bookstore visit was approximately a year ago.  Instead of visiting bookstores, I buy books online and borrow books from libraries, which is more convenient for me and budget friendly.

    This Chapters looked exactly the same as the one in Markham I visited last time and probably the same as many other Chapters in Canada. The same huge logo was in the front, the colours were the same, and even the door handles looked the same as the one I visited last time! But I do like the design of their door. It did an excellent job to made me associated it with a library’s door. Haha, I guessed Chapters did it intentionally. At least, it appeals to customers like me.

    I peeked through the glass; the lights created a warm tone inside the bookstore. The overall construction felt classic. After I had entered the door, a large signage of Indigo Kids came into my sign immediately. My destination was only a few steps away from the main entrance. Its design was colourful and playful—this red, blue signage was design as an archway. Kids and parents who came to this bookstore would recognize this section immediately.

    My first impression of Indigo Kids was “It does not look like a part of a bookstore”. It was not only because this area was so well decorated for kids.  Also, when I first entered Indigo Kids, I saw the majority of merchandise were toys. The placement of shelves was interesting. Indigo Kids don’t separate books and non-book items into two areas. They were all mixed together. The toy shelves were layered with bookshelves like a sandwich. The placement of books on shelves was neat. This Indigo Kids did not alphabetize all the books. Instead of that, they categorized books into two broad categories: fiction and non-fiction. They divided all fiction books into age groups and broad genres such as story time, chapter books and graphic novels and displayed them on different shelves. Non-fiction books were categorized into topics such as sports, dinosaurs and space.

   

    I was lucky to have a friendly bookstore staff at Indigo Kids. After I had described the purpose of my visit, she contacted her manager immediately. They gave me the permission to take photos. She told me that most recommended books and best-selling books were displayed in the middle show area and some visible placement on bookshelves, I can also access to their in-store computer to check the best-selling books.

    The in-store computer was useful. I could check best-selling books by different age groups. They updated the list weekly. For Babies and Toddlers ages 0-2, the best-selling book of that week was “Goodnight Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown, the one we had in class. Kid’s Bestsellers for ages 3 to 5 was “Oh, the Places You'll Go!” by Dr.Seuss. For kid ages 6 to 8, the best-selling book was “The Hotel is haunted!” by Geronimo Stilton. And for young readers ages 9-12, the best-selling book was “Dork Diaries” by Rachel Renee Russell.

    There was also a significant section of bargain books on the side shelves beside the entrance of Indigo Kids. Sale tags can be seen from different directions of this area, which appeals to parents and customers with limited budgets. This Indigo Kids does not have a play zone. I knew the Indigo Kids at Eaton Centre has one. I found only a tiny Lego area for kids to play beside a whole wall shelves of Legos for sale. There was no place for kids to sit—no chairs and the floor was polished tile; it was the only area in this Chapters that do not use carpet floor or wooden floor. There was also an activity section that displaying children’s writings. Overall, Indigo Kids is good. It might not be the top place for children to play but it is an excellent choice for parents to buy books and toys for children.