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As of Feb. 28, Barbara-Jo’s Books To Cooks closes its doors. The store couldn’t compete with Amazon and given the Canadian dollar (in buying books from the U.S.), the business wasn’t sustainable. Books will be selling for 25-per-cent off until the end of February. A new business, called The Uncommon Cake, will move in.

Hamid Salimian, a chef and now an instructor at Vancouver Community College’s culinary-arts program, learned about the closure Monday morning. “I’m really emotional right now. I went to discuss a cooking class I’m doing there on Jan. 28 and she told me,” says Salimian. “I’ve been a client for 20 years, buying from her and going to events. It’s an amazing place and it’s so sad it’s closing.

“She used to travel to France, the U.S., Spain to meet with little publishing companies doing unique stuff, gathering information that just wasn’t available and brought that knowledge to Vancouver. Her shop was unique in so many ways and we had so much knowledge to gain from her passion and love for the industry,” he says. “She’s not a person who brags about what she does. She just does it silently and walks away. She’s helped me in my career numerous times by being who she is. It’s a little emotional for me today.”

McIntosh is optimistic. “It was my dream and I did it. Now it’s time to coddiwomple,” she says. “You won’t find it (an English slang) in the dictionary, but it means to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination.”

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