Charlotte Stein and Alan Stein chose Parry Sound to open a book shop because they were cottagers and decided this would be a place where they could raise their family, work for themselves and still get to Queen Street for that urban fix when necessary.

In the spring of 1988, they registered the business and built an addition to their home that housed Parry Sound Books for the first five years.

When the Beatty family restored and renovated the William Beatty Building in downtown, they invited the bookstore to become tenants.

It seemed like a good idea – the children were a little older and more independent.

Alan – he is an artist – was happy to have the book shop location for an enlarged studio, and the move to the downtown meant increased space, staff and increased tourist trade. It has become the home of the business and a fixture in downtown Parry Sound.