Two decades ago, Jackie Stutt started A Woman’s Place Bookstore. Located in a house, it originally acted as a community center, sharing the space with social workers and psychologists.  It was a symbiotic relationship, as the therapists sent their clients downstairs for books on particular subjects.  Kim O’Mahony purchased the business 2 years ago, and the store continues to carry many self-help books on topics like depression, anxiety and bulimia.

"It wasn’t just a bookstore for gays and lesbians, but that was always a part of it. It has always been a place where people can come in and get all sorts of information," O’Mahony told GayCalgary.com. "These days I liken it to Lucy from Charlie Brown, where she had the sign saying ‘The Doctor is in.’ I get all sorts of stories from people, and the store allows for them to pick up something that is actually going to help them. That is why we don’t carry a lot of mainstream novels, but we have lots of everything else. If you are just coming out – which can be a scary place to be – this is the place where you can come and ask the questions and get good answers. People can go anywhere to buy a book, it has to be an experience and you have to feel safe and welcome to buy our kind of books."

It hasn’t been an easy ride for the store. They recently moved from their long-time location on Center Street to a 92-year-old house in Marda Loop that is still adorned with its original crystal doorknobs and antique heating vents. It was a move based on necessity.

"It was a year-long process from when I first started to look, realizing that I had to get out of there because that location wasn’t going to be able to sustain us. To be honest, I am still right on the edge of closing the doors, even though we are in such a wonderful space and getting the walk in traffic. We were at a point where we were getting nothing. I believe everything happens for a reason, and finding this place is a truly unique story. I was at a Christmas party and didn’t know the two women that were sitting at my table. One of them asked me how the bookstore was going, I told her I was still looking for a space and needed to move, and she told me she might have some space. It happened within days, my five-year lease was up at the end of January, this space was available February 1. It was kismet."

It is never a fun thing to move, but O’Mahony got by with a little help from her friends.

"It was very stressful. I could not have done it without the help of my friends. It was amazing, Heather Wilnechenko, my girlfriend, I love her. She is still helping me. I am not the most organized person, but Heather is, and she has done all the organization of the store. My friends helped me paint, they brought trucks, I had regular customers ask what they could do to help. I am still settling in and trying to figure out where things are going to go."

The last two years have been a learning experience. There were advantages and disadvantages to buying an established business.

"Originally I was going to build a bookstore from scratch. I was in the middle of writing my business plan with the Alberta Women’s Economic Initiative Association; a non-profit group that helps women build and sustain business. We were all sitting around the table sharing our plans, and the woman beside me told me that A Woman’s Place was up for sale. It wasn’t officially for sale yet, it was just an idea in Jackie’s head and I went and talked to her and within ten days I had purchased the bookstore. It happened very quickly. The positive side is that it was something that was already running and sustaining itself. The downside was that coming into something that was already moving, and my personality type needs to know why things are moving. I had to make a lot of mistakes. The growing and learning was just like starting from the ground up. It was me stepping into someone else’s shoes and the repercussions were that the community that shops here didn’t know who I was.  Jackie was gone and they wondered if this [was] the same bookstore. It was difficult to reassure people nothing had changed. I have just grown with it and am at a place where I have learned so much, which you have to do regardless of what kind of business [you are running].  ...It is a hard time to run an independent bookstore."

So what is it that makes A Woman’s Place unique?

"My hair," she joked while twirling her purple-streaked locks. "We have a larger, more diverse selection of books on homosexuality. Not just centering on the fiction but also the self-help for gays – abuse, addiction, helping people. We have a bulletin board with a list of psychologists and social workers that are gay-positive. You can’t go into a big chain and ask the 17-year-old clerk to recommend a good psychologist, or tell them what is going on in your life. I can do that, and help people in a different way altogether. I carry children’s books like ‘Heather has Two Mommies’, ‘One Dad, Two Dad, Brown Dad, Blue Dad’, and ‘The Duke who Outlawed Jelly Beans’ which is a wonderful collection of children’s fairy tales twisted into themes like same-sex [parents] and empowering girls. You can’t get that in a regular children’s bookstore. Also, I know most of my customers and make an effort to chat when they walk through the door. If I don’t know them, they are welcomed here with warmth and open arms."

The difference is noticeable, even after the few weeks since the store has moved.

"I am actually making money. Sales have increased. The people in this neighborhood, even those who didn’t buy a book came to welcome me to the neighborhood. Every day we get people who didn’t go downtown to the old location or people who saw us from another retail store and stopped by. The cross-traffic is wonderful. Downtown I was the only retail space – here we have lots of room for growth and fellow businesses. We are right off of Crowchild and 14th, the parking isn’t bad and it is easy to get to. It will only increase the accessibility and desire for people to come out and have some fun here."

There are big plans in store for the new location, with a sitting room, a patio, and a room dedicated to toys and films for women. GayCalgary.com readers may arch their eyebrows and ask ‘what exactly is lesbian porn?’

"Two women communicate more. In erotica its sex but women prefer a storyline.  The difference between gay porn and lesbian porn is that lesbian porn will actually have a story to it along with the sex, while gay porn is literally ‘Ding-dong, here’s your pizza, oh where did our clothes go?"

With the new location, there is nowhere to go but up. O’Mahony is looking forward to a bright future as customers old and new pay her a visit.

"I really truly hope that this will once again become a community center/bookstore for everyone – men, women, children, dogs and bearded dragons as long as they are friendly. You can even wear your boa constrictor around your neck, it might freak a few people out but I am okay with it. I am looking forward to more walk-in traffic and let the business sustain itself and I can make some money. People can come here [and] be happy with the onset of the adult toys for women, the patio out back, the DVDs and the book selection. It will be a positive space. Keeping the doors open is the big goal."

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Contributor Jason Clevett |

Locale Calgary |

Topic Business Review | A Woman’s Place Bookstore |