Another chapter for iconic book store
Q: I was dismayed to note in today’s real estate section of The Standard that 71 Queen St. in St. Catharines, Hannelore Headley’s bookshop, is for sale. After Hannah’s death, a parkette at the corner of Queen and Lake was dedicated to her by the St. Catharines Heritage Committee. What’s happening ?
A: The two-storey building is for sale but the owner of Hannelore Headley Old and Fine Books says the iconic bookstore will continue — it just might be in another location.
“We’re alive and well. Get the heck down here,” said Laurie Richards, who’s owned the shop since 2013, purchasing it a few months after namesake Hannelore Headley died of health complications at age 77.
Richards said the business is not for sale, just the building, which is a stone’s throw from Montebello Park.
“We’ve determined we need something more one floorish,” said Richards, explaining she’s well over 50 now and has hip issues. Having a store on a main floor would be a better fit for her and longtime store employee Cathy Steel-Ewart.
Richards doesn’t have another location lined up yet and is waiting to see what happens with the sale. She’s not going anywhere until she gets the price she wants.
The 2,000-square foot building, a former duplex, is listed for $325,000.
If it does sell, she said they may have to leave the downtown, depending on the cost of what else is available.
The building currently houses tens of thousands of books with another 20,000 in an online inventory shelved elsewhere.
While there is still a demand for books that aren’t digital, Richards said there has been a downward slant in the book business over the last 10 years.
It’s why the shop has diversified its selection, becoming the local retailer for Solemate socks, Anna’s Incense and Young Living Essential Oils.
It’s also a head shop, selling seeds, pipes, papers and T-shirts in hopes that will help with the bottom line.
“We’ve got it all, baby, and we’re still having fun,” Richards laughed. “We’re still coming to work with a smile on our face.”
Hannelore Headley has been in business for 46 years.
Headley opened a bookstore on Wellington Street in downtown St. Catharines in 1972 and soon moved it to the current location on Queen Street.
Known for her great knowledge of books and her kindness, she became a fixture in the downtown. In 2004, she wrote an autobiography called Blond China Doll which included her escape from Nazi Germany and Chinese Communism.
She died on June 15, 2013. In October that year, city council approved naming the parkette at the corner of Queen and Lake Streets the Hannelore Headley Chess Park.
Q: When will the on-ramp to Hwy 420 westbound reopen in Niagara Falls?
A: The opening of the ramp leading from Hwy 420 westbound to the QEW Toronto bound has been delayed because of bridge work.
Ministry of Transportation spokeswoman Valentina Stankovic said work began in spring 2016 to rehabilitate five bridges.
The project, which also included electrical work, resurfacing and median reconstruction, was supposed to be done by this past November.
Four of the five bridges were completed before the winter shutdown in December but the fifth bridge was in worse shape than originally thought. That’s required the ramp from Highway 420 westbound to the QEW Toronto bound to remain closed until the work is finished.
Traffic will continue to be rerouted to the temporary ramp that’s been in place since the construction began. Stankovic said work is currently happening through the winter to minimize the delay and it’s expected majority of it will take place in the 2018 construction season.
A precise date for reopening the ramp is unknown at this time. Send your queries to Karena Walter by email at kwalter@postmedia.com; by Twitter @karena_ standard or through Facebook at www.facebook.com/karenawalter