After a long and challenging process, Jennifer Baerg Steyn has emerged as the new owner of Yellowknife Book Cellar, taking over from founder Judith Drinnan.
The transition of ownership was put in motion 14 months ago.
“There’s a lot to take on,” said Baerg Steyn. “We had a friend offering business advice and they said it would be like a rollercoaster, which it definitely was. Fighting with the bank about getting money sorted. In the end, we had to get help from our family because small businesses are not what the banks want to put money behind right now.”
The biggest remaining challenge is staffing, an issue common among small business owners, she said.
“Right now, I’m trying to balance my ownership side of things with filling in for staff who can’t work,” said Baerg Steyn. “Being aware that I was doing that a bit earlier in the month and just working until 7 (p.m.) and then doing Saturdays or Sundays, it’s tough.”
There were other difficulties as well, such as keeping the secret of new ownership — made official on Jan. 4 — from becoming public knowledge until the time was right for an official announcement.
“I didn’t want people to feel like Judith wasn’t present or that there was this great uncertainty of who the person would be, because I understand I’m not a long-term Yellowknifer,” said Baerg Steyn, who comes from Vancouver. “This is a precious institution for people and I didn’t want there to be this panic of, ‘Oh, there’s an outsider, and who knows what she’ll do to the store.’
“I understood just how significant this was,” she said.
As for Drinnan’s future? Retirement isn’t on her to-do list right now. She will continue to do consulting work and keep her fingers active in the literary world, according to Baerg Steyn.
“In my experience of Judith, she doesn’t really have a slow down phase,” she said.
While striving to maintain the legacy of what Drinnan created in the Book Cellar over the past 40 years, Baerg Steyn also noted that she does have some changes coming to encourage community engagement.
“I think the reality is that the store has to also evolve with the community. I don’t know we’re the same community that we were 42 years ago when Judith first started the store, or any time in the last 42 years,” she said. “I’ve gotten some good feedback, people want an open mic night. I had some suggest that maybe we do art showings. I’m open to making this more of a community space, because we have those in town, but it would be nice to just add one more to the list.”
With the current Covid-19 situation, however, Baerg Steyn continues to be observant of the pandemic restrictions so as not to risk transmission among staff or customers.
Moving forward, Steyn hopes for continued local support for the Book Cellar, and other small businesses, especially during the pandemic.
“I think about every small business — the restaurants, the yoga centre,” she said. “Yes, we have the big box stores like Walmart and Canadian Tire, but we have a lot of small places that have done their best to get through this, and as a community, we really need those places.
“They are what gives diversity and life to this community.”