Back in 2021, Nicola Hamilton, an award-winning art director for several Canadian magazines, noticed something missing from Toronto’s media ecosystem. Despite being Canada’s largest city and home to the country’s biggest print, broadcast and media-production hubs, it seemed to lack a specialist shop dedicated to selling print. “I have worked in magazines for a decade,” says Hamilton. “But I realised that Toronto hadn’t had an independent kiosk of its own in a very long time.”

That set in motion a career shift, from designing magazines to selling them. In the summer of 2022, she established her own magazine shop, Issues, in the city’s Dundas West neighbourhood, an area already rich in independent retail. “It’s really fascinating to be on the other side of this industry,” says Hamilton, who firmly believes that magazines will continue to enrich and entertain future generations of people. “I’m used to putting a title together but seeing what customers are interested in reading and what they get excited about in the shop has taught me a lot.”

It was one piece of advice in particular, offered by Jeremy Leslie, founder of MagCulture in London, that guided her initial steps into magazine retail: begin by bringing in five copies of every title that you want to stock, assess what sells, then build up the inventory from there. “I’m the first Canadian retailer for a lot of these titles so that felt very exciting,” she adds.

The pared-back space was designed by Toronto-based Company Company as a shop and also as a gathering spot for the city’s creative folk. Issues hosts live talks with editors, writers and publishers, as well as magazine launches and other events. Demand has been so high for some of these that Issues now hosts pop-up shops and live talks in other parts of the country too.

“I believe in independent media,” says Hamilton. “We encourage people to linger, browse, take a seat and ask questions. I hope that there’s plenty of inspiration to be found here.”
issuesmagshop.com