Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A small stretch of West Broadway, between Main and Cambie Streets, holds Vancouver's
largest concentration of outdoor equipment stores. The largest of these, and the largest
in British Columbia, is
Mountain Equipment Co-op
(130 W. Broadway, 604/872-7858,
10am-7pm Mon.-Wed., 10am-9pm Thurs.-Fri., 9am-6pm Sat., 11am-5pm Sun.). Like the
R.E.I.storesintheUnitedStates,itisacooperativeownedbyitsmembers.Tomakeapur-
chase, you must be a member (a one-time charge of $5). The store holds a massive selec-
tion ofclothing, climbing and mountaineering equipment, tents, backpacks, sleeping bags,
books, and other accessories. To order a copy of the mail-order catalog, call 800/663-2667
or go online to
www.mec.ca
.
Per capita, residents of Vancouver buy more books than the residents of any other North
American city. Like everywhere else on the continent, more and more books are bought
onlineoratbigboxretailers—andasaresultindependentbookstoreshavebeendisappear-
ing at an alarming rate. Remaining independents include
Blackberry Books
(1666 John-
ston St., 604/685-6188, 10am-7pm daily), stocking touristy-type coffee-table books and a
wide range of western Canadiana.
The Canadian bookstore giant
Chapters
(
www.chapters.indigo.ca
)
has multiple Van-
couver stores (788 Robson St. at Howe St., 604/682-4066; south of False Creek at 2505
Granville St. at Broadway, 604/731-7822; and in major shopping centers such as Burn-
aby'sMetrotown),eachstockingmorethan100,000titles.Allhavepublic-accessiblecom-
puters to help search out particular subjects, authors, or titles; a large collection of local
and Canadian fiction and nonfiction; an extensive newsstand; discounted books; and an
in-house Starbucks coffeehouse.
Vancouver Kidsbooks
(three locations, including 3083 W. Broadway, 604/738-5335,
9:30am-6pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-6pm Sun.) offers a lot more than just books for kids. There
are daily book talks and readings as well as puppet shows and puppets for sale.
UBC Bookstore
Until Chapters began opening its megastores across the city, the bookstore on the campus
of the University of British Columbia (UBC, 6200 University Blvd. at Westbrook Mall,
604/822-2665, 9:30am-5pm Mon.-Fri., 11am-5pm Sat.), held Vancouver's largest stock of
books. With almost 100,000 titles, it is still an impressive place to browse. Books on just
