Read all about it: Halifax newsstand finds new owner

In a day and age where people are glued to their screens, one of Halifax’s oldest magazine stores remains popular.

Michele Gerard and her husband Stephen have owned Atlantic News on the corner of Queen and Morris streets for the past 30 years. The newsstand has been around 20 years longer than that, and celebrated its 50th anniversary in September.

Michele Gerard is pictured at Atlantic News ahead of its 50th anniversary celebrations in September 2023. (Source: Atlantic News/Facebook)

And now the Gerards have some big news of their own to share: They have found a new buyer for their business.

“The day that it first hit the news, a lovely gentleman walked through the door,” Michele Gerard says. “(He) knew nothing about the store, had only been here for two weeks, and offhand said, ‘My wife and I have always wanted to own a bookstore.’”

That man -- new owner Chris Green -- says the store is the centre of the south end Halifax community.

“And that’s what I was looking for, because I’m new here,” he says. “I wanted to land with both feet on the ground, become part of the community.”

He adds that clientele are the best part of the business.

People shop at Atlantic News in the south end of Halifax on Dec. 16, 2023. (Source: Atlantic News/Facebook)

“They love this place,” Green says. “As I’ve been meeting them, they put out their hand, they say, ‘Congratulations,’ then they lean forward and say, ‘Don’t mess it up!’ So my job is to not mess it up.”

Gerard says, in a world of constant online access, people continue to shop at Atlantic News because they still want print.

“It is a totally different way of being able to access information. People still love to pick up a magazine and put it on their coffee table,” she says.

She adds newspapers are also remain a “really important” part of people’s lives.

“We have remained a bastion of print, of analog, and we love the fact that our customers are anticipating what’s happens next and that we get to say we have a new owner that is in love with this business and wants to continue it on,” she says.

“It is an institution,” said one customer. “I tip my hat to Michele and Steve for thriving in an era of information that’s now digital, but they’ve created an environment and a culture of community that’s very special.”

And Gerard says that’s exactly what will continue.

“The idea for us, truly, was to find someone who wanted to continue it on with books, and with magazines and newspapers, and take care of people when they walk though the door, and we have found that buyer.” 

With files from CTV's Paul DeWitt.

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