Magpie Books

Keeping community at the heart of the book business

Sitting in the bright, airy storefront now known as Magpie Books, Julie King-Yerex breathes a sigh of relief. It’s August 2024, and the past eight months have been a tumultuous ride, filled with uncertainty, optimism and plenty of elbow grease.

The location was previously home to another community bookstore, Glass Bookshop, which shut its doors in January 2024. Over the course of its existence, the independent bookstore had found its way into the hearts of many Edmontonians, and its closure left a particular hole in the bustling Ritchie neighbourhood.

For staff at Glass Bookshop, like Julie King-Yerex, the closure also brought about a sense of loss, not only as her employer, but for the city as a whole.

“Glass felt like a little hole in the city that was like a community space and niche bookstore. So when we announced that we were closing, oh my God seeing all the comments from people on Instagram and like all these messages about how much the space meant to people, it was just so much,” she says.

But she was determined to keep the dream of that community space alive.

King-Yerex talked with Moriah Crocker, another of the booksellers who had worked with the store. The two agreed on the importance of having a locally owned, independent bookstore that focused on featuring marginalized voices, including BIPOC, queer and local or Canadian authors. They also saw the value in having a community space where all were welcome.

So in the months that followed the closure, the pair got to work. They approached the Social Enterprise Fund to secure financing for their new venture, and spent the next several months working tirelessly, preparing for a new iteration of the shop to take over the Ritchie storefront.

“We really did everything ourselves because we wanted to save money. We had family building tables, and doing graphic design… I was here sanding and staining for days,” King-Yerex laughs with a touch of exhaustion in her voice.

“I feel like a lot of folks when they’re opening a shop or a business, they would do this over a year or more. And then there was us, getting this done in a matter of weeks.”

By May, they were ready.

And like a phoenix rising from the ashes, a magpie was born.

Magpie Books, to be precise.

The name, King-Yerex explains, initially came up as a joking homage to the popular video game Stardew Valley. But as she and Crocker talked about it, they realized the tongue-in-cheek reference to one of Edmonton’s most iconic birds was a perfect fit.

“We were kind of joking about what kinds of names would be Stardew-coded,” she laughs. “But then it just seemed like the perfect name. I love that they’re kind of these feisty, maligned birds that are also kind of representative of the city.”

Sitting behind the till, King-Yerex is the quintessential bookstore owner. As customers come in looking for specific books or recommendations in a certain genre, she’s quick to provide assistance. It’s part of the appeal of Magpie Books: they know their authors, they know their stock and they care about each customer.

“We’re in a pretty small space, so we need to be super mindful of what we bring in, which means we really know every single book,” she says.

But it’s more than the books that make Magpie so special. King-Yerex and Crocker have sought to keep the shop as a community space, home to book clubs and community events like artist pop-ups and naloxone training sessions.

“We always have community first in mind. Obviously, we’re a bookstore and we have to sell books to pay the bills. But what we try to do beyond bookselling is what makes it special,” she says.

With those tumultuous first few months under her belt, King-Yerex is optimistic about Magpie’s future. But she says she and Crocker aren’t in any rush to expand or change their business model — instead, it’s nesting time.

“We’ve signed a five-year lease for the space, so we’re happy to settle in and just be here,” she says. “It’s time for us to set down roots here, for at least a little bit.”