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By MO CRANKER on January 10, 2020.

NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER

Page and Whisker founder Sam Sandidge shows off one of the thousands of books for sale at the downtown store while volunteer Claudia Dyk plays with APARC cat Garth. The bookstore is holding a soft opening Friday and Saturday. It is located on Second Street downtown. NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKERPage and Whisker founder Sam Sandidge shows off one of the thousands of books for sale at the downtown store while volunteer Claudia Dyk plays with APARC cat Garth. The bookstore is holding a soft opening Friday and Saturday. It is located on Second Street downtown.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com

Medicine Hat’s newest business will be opening its doors for the first time today.

The Page and Whisker, located on Second Street SE downtown, is a high-end used book store that will also be used to help felines find their forever homes.

“We’re excited to finally hold our soft opening for the public,” said store founder Sam Sandidge. “We’re going to be open (today) and Saturday, then we’ll be closed Sunday and Monday to recoup a bit.

“Tuesday we’ll be open for good.”

Hours today and Saturday will be noon to 8 p.m. and Sandidge says it is nice to see ideas finally coming to life.

“We’re a used bookstore that houses a few thousand high-quality books,” he said. “On top of all of our books, we’re also housing a handful of cats from local rescues that are all adoptable.”

Right now the store is just hosting Alberta Pound and Rescue Cats, but Sandidge says he is working with other pet rescue organizations to help more than just APARC.

“We want to eventually have representations from all rescues in the city,” he said.

Sandidge says the store is trying to offer as much selection as possible, while still offering books in near-mint shape.

“We want to offer a good variety,” he said. “I’m a real stickler for quality, so we’re trying not to have broken bindings or books that are just in rough shape.

“For price we’re doing at least 50 per cent off of the cover price – prices depend on overall quality and how old the book is.”

The majority of the books came from donations to APARC’s annual book sale, and roughly 1,000 are from Sandidge’s personal library. He says he hopes the store can offer long-term financial support to APARC.

“When I was working with APARC we could hold a fundraiser and get short-term funding for something like medical care for one specific animal,” he said. “Other projects like the trap, neuter, release program or the low-cost spay and neuter need long-term funding.

“Establishing a retail space that can help offer support for those long-term goals was the primary goal behind this.”