EDMONTON -- While COVID-19 continues to have a severe impact on local businesses, some are finding different ways to connect to their customers and communities.
Glass Bookshop, located in City Centre Mall, has closed its doors and now offers free delivery to customers who purchase their books online.
“We decided for the health and safety of the community and to assist in stopping the spread of COVID-19, we’ve chosen to close our bookshop and cancel any events or gatherings that we had planned," co-owner Matthew Stepanic said.
“Because we’re a small business that needs to connect with the community in some way, we are offering free delivery to everyone who lives in Edmonton and the surrounding communities, so that includes St. Albert and Sherwood Park, too," he said.
"People can visit our website, see what we have in stock, in terms of new releases and our favourite titles — and they can also order stuff in that will still get shipped to us. Then I load up my car and I drive around with dozens of orders and visit different corners of the city and drop off books.”
The store also has safety precautions, and offers special instructions for delivery.
“If people are more comfortable with me leaving it in the mailbox, between the doors, on the doorstep… we do contact everyone before we send out to let them know when orders are coming so they can give us special instructions at that time just to make sure that their safety is met.”
Stepanic says the response has been “incredible.”
“Once we announced that we were closing our doors, we’ve had dozens of orders come in from around the city, and you know, people from across Canada, too, that just wanted to buy a gift card to support us,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to doing something new with the bookshop and serving people in a different way.”
