Achi news desk-
Like many during the pandemic, Jean Lavigne lost his business.
Unlike many, at that moment, the then 55-year-old thought, “This would be a great time to open a bookstore.”
And so he did — with the support of his wife, of course.
“I ran a bed and breakfast for 12 years,” Lavigne tells CTV News. “During the epidemic, everything stopped and I was faced with the choice at the age of 55: OK, what am I going to do with the rest of my life? I don’t know how things will work out.”
Lavigne says he knew that if he didn’t take a leap of faith now, he probably never would.
“My wife said, ‘Listen, if you don’t take this area, if you don’t rent the area, it’s because you don’t have the courage to move forward and do it,'” he recalls. “And I said, ‘Okay, okay, okay, let’s go.'”
In November 2021, Librairie Résonance, a bookstore dedicated to music books, opened its doors for the first time.
“I’ve always said my best job ever was my first job working in a record store when I was 17, 18, 19,” Lavigne said. “When it came time to open a bookstore, I said, ‘Well, I like this environment of music…’ and I said, ‘Well, I think it could work.'”
The owner of the bookstore Librairie Résonance, Jean Lavigne, leaves the Post-IT with his honest reviews of each book. (Jean Lavigne)
Lavigne, who hails from Aylmer, Que., says that when he first opened his store, he was very aware of the different types of shoppers he could meet.
“I don’t want to be that person trying to sell, push or whatever,” he said. “I know, personally, when I go into a bookstore, I like to be left alone just to browse.”
So he came up with the idea of ​​leaving a small post-IT on each book.
“I just want to communicate with them, tell them, ‘Oh that was really good,’ ‘I enjoyed that,’ ‘I didn’t like that that much,'” he said. “I say, you know, ‘I didn’t like it that much, I asked me why.’ this book much more.’ “
The owner of the bookstore Librairie Résonance, Jean Lavigne, leaves the Post-IT with his honest reviews of each book. (Jean Lavigne)
The former teacher says he is as honest as possible in his post-IT, and his clients often leave him humble.
“I think it’s just positive that a person comes out with a book that makes them feel good,” he said. “It’s really my clientele that tells me what books to buy because they are so knowledgeable.”
Lavigne admits he hasn’t read every book in his store — yet — but he’s working on it.
“Before opening the store, I would read about everything…which I think is probably the first quality of a bookstore owner. You have to be curious and be able to talk about anything with customers,” he said. “When I first opened, I felt like an impostor because there are people who come here and know so much more about music books and music in general… I thought I was into music but it’s just crazy how many people are really into music, which is pretty cool.”
