Halifax, the unlikely home to Canada’s oldest children’s bookstore

Employees at Woozles bookstore donned black robes, round spectacles and Gryffindor ties on July 8, 2000, ready to celebrate the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with loyal Potterhead customers. 

The store had pre-sold dozens of copies and had ordered hundreds more. 

About a week before the launch, the publisher told Woozles’ staff their order would be short-shipped because Costco had placed a large order. 

Woozles had no choice but to carry on and see what would happen. 

Around 11 a.m. on the day of the release, Woozles started to get low on copies. 

Determined, Woozles’ owner Liz Crocker drove to Costco and filled a shopping cart with copies for her store, which cost less than what the publisher would have charged the independent bookstore.

When she reached the checkout, Crocker asked the cashier if Costco had sold many Harry Potter books that day. 

The cashier could not answer Crocker’s question. “I don’t know. What is it?”

Reflects Crocker in 2022, “It’s just how it goes.”

Though Woozles has faced challenges with the presence of large booksellers like Costco, which came to Halifax in 1992, Canada’s oldest independent bookstore has been in business for over 43 years.  

Woozles was created when Crocker realized she couldn’t get the books she wanted for her then one year-old daughter. Shortly after this realization, Crocker, along with husband Brian Crocker and friend Amy Connor Brimer, decided to take action.  

It began on Oct. 14, 1978, a cloudy Saturday. In the bustling core of downtown Halifax, surrounded by overwhelmingly white and brown two-storey homes, sat a charming yellow building with a bright green door. 

Inside that yellow store, complete with a vintage reading chair and pleasant aroma of children’s books, staff members braced themselves for the grand opening. Some were bursting with excitement, while others were hit with a wave of anxiety. Would anyone show up? Would this be a successful idea or a failure? 

Before long that day, people started to enter the yellow store on Birmingham Street. About 600 people braced the overcast weather to show their support. Little did they know that Woozles would thrive for over 40 years.  

“It was just thrilling to see everybody and to feel that our idea was validated,” said Crocker. 

Woozles has since left an impact on many, often sparking a love of reading in young children, says Crocker, who has watched numerous customers, often grandparents and grandchildren, curl up with a book in the store’s comfy corner chair. 

She recalls poignant stories from customers, including: “When I was alone and scared, and not knowing what was coming next in my life, I could walk into Woozles and feel a sense of calm, and just for a few moments I knew I’d be okay.”

Additional Woozles memories are anonymously shared on the store’s website.

Explains one customer, “I was 3000 miles away from my home in Ireland and very, very lost in Halifax when I accidentally discovered Woozles. I remember stumbling in through the door, soaking wet from the rain that was battering down outside. It took me five seconds to realize I had found a magical place, 10 seconds to begin searching through all the books of my childhood and two hours to leave, loaded down with toys and stories for all my friends and family.”

Although Woozles’ books are generally more expensive than those found at places like Chapters and Costco, loyal customers keep returning. 

Many customers who’d shared memories on the website cite the store’s positive atmosphere and often unique inventory, including smelly and shiny stickers, as reasons for visiting and returning. 

A lot of the memories praise Woozles’ staff, many of whom have been with the store for a long time, like Trudy Carey, Woozles’ manager for 30 years. 

Crocker says people often enter the store looking for book recommendations and her employees are prepared and glad to assist, which is particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Especially when people couldn’t go in to see, they would ask for advice,” said Crocker. “I think over the years customers learned to completely trust what we recommend.”

To remain profitable, Woozles typically refrains from ordering large quantities of commercially successful books that big box stores carry at highly discounted prices, said Suzy MacLean, Woozles’ manager.

Woozles’ detailed website and ability to offer free local deliveries on a purchase of $50 or more allow the store to compete with larger booksellers. 

“We’re small but we can play like the big boys and girls,” said Crocker. 

According to Statistics Canada, of the net value ($894.70) of total book sales in Canada in 2020, independent bookstores accounted for $170.50. 

There are over 275 independent bookstores in Canada, according to a 2021 CBC article.

Crocker and MacLean often observe both children and parents striking up conversations and making new friends in the store. 

“Parenthood is wonderful and juicy, but it can sometimes be a bit isolating, so having a welcoming place to come with a tiny person is important. Then, when you add books to the scenario, life-changing books…it adds a whole other level,” said MacLean. 

The store has featured many programs including Battle of the Books, a reading incentive program for students in grades 3-12, and guest speakers including Robert Munch, David Suzuki and Barbara Cooney, who visited from the United States for three days. 

Over the years, Woozles has also housed many children’s birthday parties, often space-themed or resembling a Victorian Tea Party. 

Like many Halifax businesses, Woozles had to pivot to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aside from free local delivery, the store also offered curbside pickup and those entering the store were required to wear masks. 

Woozles was once named Bookseller of the Year and twice as Specialty Bookseller of the Year, most recently in 2010, by the Canadian Booksellers Association. 

The store took the top prize in the category of Best Independent Bookseller from the Coast’s Best of Halifax Readers’ Choice Awards in 2017 and 2018. 

On November 20, 2021, Woozles welcomed customers to its new location at the nearby 6013 Shirley Street, right beside the big old tree, where parking and wheelchair access is much improved. 

The store’s postal code may have changed, but Woozles’ legacy and green door remain intact. 

After Trudy Carey retired, Crocker’s daughter Suzy MacLean took over as manager. Woozles is now in the hands of the same daughter for whom the store had been created.