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Retiring bookstore owner gifts successful business to his staff

Jim Munro of Munro's Books, with copies of Alice Munro's Dear Life.

Jim Munro, the 84-year-old owner of Victoria, B.C.'s famous Munro's Books, is retiring this September.

"Once you get past 80, you realize you're not the person you once were. It's just a very slow decline," he told the Globe and Mail, laughing. "I want to get out on a high note because you, sort of, lose it when you get older. You forget things more, and so on."

And while it might be "time to go," he's certainly going out generously. Munro is gifting "Canada's most beautiful bookstore" to four of his long-time employees.

"Without them there, the business isn't worth anything. They are like an extended family," Munro told the Toronto Star.

Munro told the paper that his three daughters with ex-wife Alice Munro agreed with his decision to hand over the business to store manager Jessica Walker, senior buyer Carol Mentha, comptroller Sarah Frye and operations manager Ian Cochran.

"We all totally agree that the store should go to the staff, that we hold the building and that we want the Munro name to continue," he said.

Munro opened Munro's Books in 1963 in a retail strip near a theatre, hoping to lure in moviegoers. In 1984, he bought a former bank, grand with neo-classical architecture, in the heart of downtown. The store has remained a popular destination ever since, for locals, tourists, authors and celebrities alike.

"The building is emblematic of Jim's business," David Kent, president and CEO of HarperCollins Canada told the Toronto Star. "It's solid and beautiful."

And now the business he built is being passed on to the team that he credits with its success. Including an inventory of about 30,000 books, Munro's gift is valued at an estimated $1 million.

"I have every confidence in the people I'm turning it over to. They're very good, they're very smart, very dedicated," Munro told the Victoria Times Colonist.

"These are tough times in the book business. It's not that I'm giving them a cash cow or anything. But they're very competent and they deserve to be successful."

Munro said that he considers all 22 employees of the store extended family.

"Jim is in his 80s. His life has been in the store. He generally treats his employees as if they’re family. It's a really close group here. His main concern is that the store continue. He has worked for 51 years building the business. It really is a legacy in Victoria,"Jessica Walker, 45, one of the employees gifted with the store, told the Globe and Mail.

"He was looking at various options. He ended up feeling it would be in everyone's interest to turn the store over to the four key people who cover four major areas in terms of bookstore operations."

"We're really looking forward to the privilege of being able to carry the Munro’s legacy forward," Walker added.