Facelifts are a good thing, according to Brad Greenwood.

Six months after packing up Greenwoods’ Bookshoppe and carting his store’s books around the corner and down the street, Greenwood says he has no regrets about moving the family’s landmark bookstore off the fabled Whyte Avenue strip in Old Strathcona.

A lack of shelf space and limited parking meant 23 years on Whyte, between Calgary Trail and Gateway Boulevard, had just about run its course. “I’ve been saying for months that we were suffocating there. It was just getting worse in that old location,” said Greenwood.

“We just felt a new facelift would be real good for us,” adds Greenwood, the company president. “Rent had very little to do with it. Our mind was very much made up.”

With a shopping list that included consolidating their separate warehouse into the new location, additional floor space, keeping everything on one level, parking and staying in the immediate area, Greenwood had his work cut out for him.

Dan Riedlhuber, for Business Edge
Bookseller Brad Greenwood says sales have started to pick up since he decided to move off Whyte Avenue into new retail space.

Most of the space he encountered in Old Strathcona was quite small. He flirted with the idea of moving into the downtown core just west of Grant MacEwan College on 104th Avenue, but preferred to stay on Edmonton’s south side.

“We’ve been involved in this area for 23 years, we’ve put a lot in, and the community has done a lot for us. We wanted to stay in Old Strathcona.”

Even though Greenwoods’ ultimately ended up relocating approximately two blocks south in a renovated Calgary Trail strip centre with a funky facade-like exterior finish, Greenwood turned to Dale Willerton, founder and CEO of Edmonton-based Lease Coach, for assistance.

“I contacted him a few years earlier for our lease renewal, and a couple of things he did saved us a lot of money. When this came up, I thought it was a good idea to call him and see what could be done.”

Willerton, who manages a network of certified lease consultants to help tenants with all aspects of their lease agreements, helped Greenwood from start to finish by guiding him through the site selection, negotiating the lease and reviewing the final documents.

“It was challenging in two regards,” said Willerton. “The tenant’s desire to stay in the same area was understandable, but the available space was minimal and therefore the whole process was more difficult. When he wanted 7,000 sq. ft., it became even more difficult.”

Dan Riedlhuber, for Business Edge


The old Greenwoods’ measured 5,700 sq. ft., while the new store at 7925 104 St. is 6,300 sq. ft. – or 7,300 sq. ft once the warehouse space is added to the equation.

Not only did this allow for the culmination of a 15-year dream – consolidating the warehouse with the store – moving into a strip mall provided Greenwood with the parking solution he needed.

“At the old store, we weren’t getting the walk-in traffic like we used to. After being in business for as long as we have been, we became a destination store. A lot of people would drive down Whyte and say: ‘Oh, there’s Greenwoods’ but there are no parking spaces.’ I heard that a lot,” said Greenwood, referring to the metered spaces around his store that were almost always occupied.

“A big thing for Greenwoods’ was the need for an abundance of non-paid parking – the book business has a strong browsing aspect,” said Willerton.

“This (new) location is very desirable for him and the old location didn’t have as much to offer with metered parking and two levels for customers to shop on,” said Willerton.

The new spot also provides Greenwoods’ with strong neighbouring and adjacent tenants who have done well since moving their stores off Whyte Ave.

Natural supermarket Planet Organic is in the same centre as Greenwoods’, while United Cycle is a stone’s throw to the east on Gateway Boulevard and Bee-Bell Health Bakery is just to the west of Calgary Trail.

“I had talked to Planet Organic, United Cycle and Bee Bell. They all moved off the Avenue and they never regretted it, so I just thought it was the way to go. It was a no-brainer,” said Greenwood.

The Avenue is not what it used to be, say Greenwood and Willerton. Known for its nightlife and farmers’ market, and home to a number of festivals, it’s a great place if the weather co-operates, said Willerton.

“It’s still very good, don’t get me wrong,” said Greenwood. “But its heyday was four to five years ago. Higher rents mean the ma-and-pa stores are closing down and more chain stores are coming in – who can afford the higher rents?”

But Whyte needs strong independent retail tenants that people will travel to shop at, said Willerton, not chain stores that have five branches across the city with parking readily available. “I would characterize it as a niche market that is very beneficial to certain tenants and not to others, but it’s not a black and white demographic.”

Meanwhile, sales are strong at Greenwoods’ new location. Fall sales were up over the previous fall and Christmas sales were healthy.

“Any move is a big move for a retailer,” said Greenwood. “We stuck our neck out and we had confidence, and it is proving that it is working. It is only going to get better as time goes on. The store is the right size, there is a parking lot and the quality of space is just so much better and we’ve got that new look that we needed.”