 Janet Gifford-Brownwith Squeek |
Northwest Coast Books, located in Queen Charlotte on the Queen Charlotte Islands/Haida Gwaii, began life in the early 1980's as a small retirement business for Bill Ellis. I
purchased the business in August, 2003 after Bill passed away. Over the years it grew (under a variety of names - Northwest Coast Books and Art Co., Bill Ellis Books, First Peoples Books, Northwest Coast Indian Books) into one of the largest collections of books, both in and out of print, for sale on Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. It is primarily a wholesale business, selling to galleries, museums, gift shops, schools and universities. I also sell retail to collectors worldwide as well as to local people and visitors alike. In the Spring of 2006 I moved the store to a more central, readily visible location in town. |
| I began working for Bill in 1994, gradually taking over more and more of the management of the
business as well as the usual processing of orders. Bill died in November 2002, by which time I knew
that this was what I really wanted to do with my life. I became the owner of Northwest Coast Books in
mid-August 2003. The inventory still consists mainly of Native topics and there is an extensive selection of books on the Queen Charlottes. The majority of the out of print titles were bought by one of Bill’s sons and have since moved to Vancouver, but I still maintain a collection of OP titles. I have added some obscure, mostly out of print, bird books and expanded the natural history section. For visiting retail customers I have a large variety of art cards, postcards, assorted prints (many older and unusual), and a miscellany of out of print books on a variety of topics.
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 and Hank |
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Customers of all ages are entertained by my store companions; Roo & Hank, the border collies, Buster the african parrot (yes, he does talk) and Squeek, the lovebird. |
 Roo |
 Buster |
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