A popular downtown London bookstore is moving on to its next chapter.
The Brown & Dickson Antiquarian Bookstore, located at 609 Richmond St., has moved just a block south to 567 Richmond St.
But no moving trucks or vehicles were used on Monday morning. Instead, a human chain of about 50 people lined up and passed books down to the shop’s new location.
The husband-and-wife duo of Jason Dickson and Vanessa Brown decided to move when they realized they needed a bigger space to sell books and host events and lectures.
Brown and Dickson started selling books at pop-up festivals. After finding success at different events, they moved to an incubator in the old Novack’s building. As the business continued to grow, Brown and Dickson moved into their first Richmond Street store, which has now also become too small.
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“This new space is a dream space. It is bigger, has properly sized aisles. We can do events here, have a stage, community groups can meet here, and we can host lectures,” said Dickson. “We can basically do everything we do right now but just bigger and better.”
A Facebook post was all it took to spread the word about Brown & Dickson making the move, leading dozens of Londoners to head to Richmond Street and offer their help.
Loyal customers of Brown & Dickson assisted in the move of hundreds of boxes along with furniture, shelving and more.
“It shows the community can work together to get something done,” said one volunteer participating in the move.
Dickson told 980 CFPL: “It’s important that our customers were involved in meaningful moments in our shop’s history. Honestly, it just feels better if they are around.”
Now on the corner of Richmond and Albert streets, Dickson believes the new location is “the heart of London.”
“I can’t wait to see who will walk through those doors,” he said.
Brown & Dickson will be closed for the rest of the work week, as plenty of unpacking and restocking of shelves needs to be done.
The shop’s doors will reopen on Saturday, April 5, while the grand reopening will take place on Saturday, April 13.
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