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Nicholas Hoare to close flagship Toronto store

Toronto’s Nicholas Hoare bookstore, the remaining location in the eponymous mini-chain, will close its doors April 1.

According to the store’s website, the Front Street shop’s lease is up at the end of March, and will not be renewed.

While this is sad news for customers and the independent book-selling community, Hoare, who turns 70 this year, has revealed he will be retiring to his 350-acre property in Nova Scotia’s picturesque Annapolis Royal region, with plans to develop a vineyard and an 18,000-volume library.

On the website, Hoare thanks his customers:

It is, therefore, the occasion to acknowledge our gratitude to our loyal clientele for their support over many years. Since first we opened, in 1971, they have been a constant joy; and, given the frequently eclectic choices of our founder, have not only vindicated his cherished policy of less is more – hand-picked and preferably face-out – but have thoroughly endorsed a manicured, high-end tradition that has flouted competitive trends for decades.

In April 2012, Hoare closed its Ottawa location. The Westmount store, in Montreal, closed in December, six months after receiving a hand from the city’s mayor, who helped negotiate a temporary rent freeze with the bookseller’s landlord.

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