Friday, August 26, 2016

PRH Canada Opens Penguin Shop in HQ Lobby

Penguin Random House Canada has opened Penguin Shop, a 158 square foot bookstore, in the lobby of its building in Toronto, Quill & Quire reported.

 
PRH Canada president and CEO Brad Martin said, "We are continually in search of innovative ways to bring the books we are so proud to publish to readers. As such, we see Penguin Shop as a research and development lab--a place where we can interact directly with consumers."

The Penguin Shop has one employee, Justin Sorbara-Hosker, who is helped by volunteers from the PRH Canada offices upstairs.

Describing the layout, Q&Q wrote that "each of the four hidden bookshelves that slide out from the store's wall is capped on the end to resemble a book spine in the style of Penguin's iconic horizontal grid design--two coloured bars divided by a bar of white--originally created in 1935 by Edward Young, a 21-year-old Penguin junior staffer. When all the shelves are pushed in, the wall resembles a row of eight-foot-high books. (Three additional panels open to reveal an online point-of-sale system and additional stock.) The spines are magnetic, allowing for quick changes to promote specific titles, award winners, or events, which the store plans to hold on occasion, overflowing into the lobby when necessary. The shop also sells a variety of Penguin-branded merchandise, also featuring the press's original design, including lapel pins, notebooks, mugs, and travel tags."

Shelf Awareness.

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