Stock Paul - Interview

Memories of My Home… Memories of My Neighborhood.

1. Can we please begin by having you state your name and the name of your business?

My name is Paul Stock and my business is Librairie Astro, a used books and comic shop.

2. Can you describe the type of business you run?

We’re very big as comic sellers, used books, as well as popular fiction. There are quiet a few stores in the area which are literary or academic in focus so we fill the gap for people who want Steven King or Daniel Steel. We also specialize in abusing our customers. We are very, very good at that. Our motto is “customer service is a blood sport.”

3. How and when did the concept for this business arise? When did it officially open?

When I was a kid I use to go to a used book store called Archie’s which then became Snowden Pocket Novels and Comics. I was about 11 years old when one day I went to Archie’s and found a note on the window which read “back in five minutes.” I went back the next day, and the next, and the next but no Archie. Finally, Archie came back and I asked him what had happened. Archie explained that since he didn’t have a washroom in the store he had gone to Decarie Fish and Chips to use the washroom and then decided to go to New York since it was such a nice day. I then thought to myself…it’s a nice day, I think I’ll go to New York for a week or two. That is when I decided this was a business I wanted to be in. At the time I did not know that Archie basically lived in his store and that if I wanted to do things like get married, have children and eat more than dog food I could not close the store and go to New York. But, I had that fixated in my head and 25 years later when I opened my store I found out the reality.

I always read a lot and I like books so it was just a natural thing

This store opened in mid-July 1987. We opened the day before a huge rainfall which basically flooded Montreal. Our basement became a short term swimming pool but luckily there was no stock stored there since we had just opened.

I opened my first book store in Lachine. I had been looking for a location in this area but an opportunity in Lachine came up. For a while we were the only book store in Lachine but our building became severely damaged by a fire which originated next door.

When Archie died in the early seventies, his sister ran Archie’s Pocket Novels and Comics but she then wanted to retire so we bought the store. It was six feet wide and forty feet long. It was like living in a truck. The landlord wanted to double our rent and it just was not worth it. So we opened on Sherbrooke Street near Melrose Avenue but the demographic changed shortly there after. Five years later we opened in this location.

I’m connected with a lot of comic retailers around the world and we were one day trying to find out about the oldest comic shop with the word comic in the title in the world. Because I still hold the registration for Snowden Pocket Books and Comics, it’s me.

4. What type of clientele does your business cater to?

People who like to read. The only exclusion is that we don’t have a lot of people with young kids but that’s just the demographic of the area. We have a few clients who come in from Dollard or Terrebonne just like any other store but it’s mostly local people: students, young married people, and retirees. This is a very densely populated area, not necessarily Shaughnessy but Maisonneuve Boulevard. We are constantly being refreshed with new people, empty nesters and retirees who come back to live downtown for the convenience.

The students are on budgets, they pick up a book and it provides 7-8-9 hours of entertainment. A DVD is more expensive and then they have to bring it back. A book can be put to other uses such as leveling tables.

5. Are there clients who have been served by your business since its opening?

Sure. We had one customer who used to tell us stories about living in England during World War One. She has passed away. She was very old and lived with the nuns. Everyday the nuns would give her an orange to eat and she hated oranges so she would come in and give us her orange. Once another lady came in and said “that old lady she is crazy she yells at things on the street.” A few days later the old lady said to me; “just in case you hear about me being crazy and yelling on the street, I’m very old and very frail and kids today are very big and they don’t look where they are going. If I fall and break a hip, I will die. So I yell at parking meters and bicycles and they are all afraid of me. I’m a little five foot nothing, 92 pound old lady and they are all afraid of me. So they stay away from me and I don’t break a hip and die.” Smart lady

Nick Oftemare used to come in here a lot. He was a politician and I think he was embarrassed about buying political thrillers because he would always say that they were for his daughter who was eight years old at the time. He would buy Donald Duck comics for himself. We didn’t have many conversations; he was tanked most of the time. A “bon vivant.” He would drag one of his friends in here and that was Mordici Ritchler. He never said a word. I think he might have had some basic objection to the concept of used books since he would not receive any royalties.

I never see the celebrities since I mostly stay in the back. I remember reading about a situation in the paper one day so I asked my wife if some guy came in the store and bought a bunch of video the previous day, she said yes. I asked if he was a black guy, she said yes. I then asked her to describe him, she said “well, he was a nice guy, paid cash and didn’t steel anything.” Well I then figured out that it was Samuel L. Jackson. It makes sense because he can get any video except the ones that are out of print.

Nicholas Cage came in looking for comics once but my wife doesn’t know if he is a nice guy because he didn’t say anything and didn’t buy anything.

When the forum was not far we used to be inundated with hockey players. A lot of them were card collectors. My kids have their own rookie cards signed by Patrick Roy.

6. Can you describe what influenced your decision to choose this specific location?

It was empty. Actually it wasn’t empty a handbag store was here but it was for rent. Oddly enough there were not a lot of spaces for rent on Saint Catherine at the time. Now there are lots of empties, it’s kind of depressing.

When I was a kid there were a lot of really great bookstores around the area. I also used to hangout in the area, so I wanted to be in the area.

The area was, and still is to an extent, a book selling area. If we start at Mackay Street until Fort Street, there are about eleven bookstores. When I first moved here there were less but I think they were more visible.

Every bookstore has a personality and it can’t successfully change ownership because the personality of the bookstore will change and the customers will say: “it’s not the same.”

7. With regards to the building, are you the owner or tenant?

Tenant.

8. Do you know the year of construction of the building?

I think it was built in 1884. I think the landlord mentioned this to me.

9. What can you tell us about the history of the building with regards to past businesses or residents? How did you discover this information?

Virtually nothing. Before us it was a handbag store which was here for about a year and a few months. Before that the landlord had a tailor shop and then decided to retire. He owned this building and the building next door which is sort of the twin. It’s one of those row houses which were built according to the same plan but only two were built.

The landlord also told me that there was a hairdressing school located in this building. I also now this because we would pull away the old walls and flooring only to find lots of hair. At first you don’t know if it’s an animal. It was sickening. I think it’s all gone now. There were also sets of three holes in the floor in at least 28 places with drains “water in” “water out.” Upstairs it is currently a kind of church. Before that it was a tanning salon. The building was initially a residential home and if you look at it from the outside you can see the original building. You can see that the original building had residential windows and doors.

10. What, if any, are the architectural details of the building which house your business? Are they common in the area or specific to your business?

They aren’t any. Basically, the architectural detail of the building is that the foundation is rough stone. That’s the only architectural detail. I think virtually every part of this place has been redone. Very little has been conserved. What has been conserved is what is visible from the outside. That’s the brick wall which has no fine architectural details. Nobody paid any attention to that stuff. The original roof is still there, the original shape of the windows is still there but that is simply because it is cheaper to leave it that to change it. If you look at a lot of the buildings on Sainte-Catherine you have got to look up before you realize that there is any kind of architectural detail. Otherwise, it is just aluminum and glass fronts with what looks like trailer park siding.

Any grace and balance the building once had has been lost. It is no longer a heritage building…it is nothing.

11. How does your business, its location, and/or its physical appearance reflect your personality?

It’s kind of slummy and slumpy, it’s sort of old and it’s full of words. There were a lot of stores around which were sort of skuzzy but there was also a trend towards chrome and plastic which I don’t care for that much. I don’t feel there’s any soul. There is a phenomenon of allergies and illnesses which come from living in too clean a home and it’s something I want to avoid. It’s kind of like a dream. Well, more like a nightmare. The store is a lot like that, but it’s not the worst in the area. A traditional book is an absolute slum. It has the musty smell it has the cats which may or may not be alive. I wanted to get away from a setting where you put your drink down and worry that something will crawl away with it. But to put chrome and polished brass and stuff like that, every once in a while I think that would be cool, but I’d rather be comfortable. I don’t like formality and that’s the way the store operates. We could be relaxed and human but have a system that is rock solid which allows for fun time.

12. What do you believe the facade of your business communicates to others?

Buy books. Buy many books. We need your money. Help pay the rent. At least I hope that is what it communicates.

13. How has the neighborhood changed, in your perception, over the years?

It’s gotten a little rougher. Nothing serious, it is just unpleasant. Even the junkies are relatively genteel. The deterioration of the Seville is very important to the area. The Seville is a haven for pigeons and rats. The whole block, except for Bombay palace which is the one bright spot on the block, is a sink whole. The Seville may have had architectural value, but there is so little of it left. I like the idea of salvaging the fronts but I think the block is beyond any hope of redemption. In the old days people built things forever because construction materials were valuable. The Seville was not meant to be torn down but it has depressed the area.

14. What has changed in the area?

There are no pizza or hamburger shops. But all types of ethnic food restaurants are opening up… lots of noodles. Slowly we are getting some different tastes. It’s becoming a lovely type of restaurants of the world area.

15. How have you adapted your business to these changes, if at all?

Not much to adapt to, aside from spicier lunches.

16. Today, how would you describe or characterize your neighborhood?

It is a neighborhood. People live here and they work here. It’s a great area.