Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

Carl and Jack Cole

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Name
  
Carl Jack

Died
  
January 22, 1997

Carl and Jack Cole were two brothers who created the successful bookstore chain Coles bookstore as well as the world famous publication of Coles Notes. Jack (May 4, 1920 – January 22, 1997) and Carl (d.1994) were born Isadore and Carl Collofsky. Carl and Jack were very successful, making Coles the largest bookstore chain in Canada in the mid to late 20th century.

Contents

Early life

Jack and Carl were born in Detroit, but the family moved to Toronto, Canada, when Jack was quite young. They had two sisters. Due to family circumstances, Jack and Carl had a very tough childhood.

Jack attended Harbord Collegiate; however he dropped out of High School after completing grade 10 in order to help provide for his family. Carl attended Oakwood Collegiate in Toronto.

At the age of 15, Jack and his Brother Carl opened their first bookstore in 1935 under the name The Book Exchange.

The bookstore was located at Bloor and Spadina and specialized in second hand books for the University of Toronto.

World War II

Jack Cole immediately joined the Canadian Air Force when the Canadian Army joined the War. Due to his limited formal education, Jack Cole started as a Private however within 6 months he had been promoted to a Captain and stationed in England. At the same time, Carl ran the bookstore which was thriving in Canada.

1950/1960s

In 1958, Jack and Carl sold the American Rights to Coles Notes to Cliff Hillegas who published the books under Cliff Notes.

By 1960, Coles Notes sales peaked when baby boomers were beginning to attend high school. They had over 120 titles mostly dealing with English novels however they had numerous other subjects including math, languages, physics etc.

1970s

On June 7, 1972, Jack and Carl Cole took Coles Bookstore public, however he and Carl still maintained control over the business. At this point, Coles Bookstore had over 200 stores operating across Canada.

Beginning in 1973, Jack and Carl eventually opened over 50 stores in the United States, but this venture was not very successful, and Southam Inc. later sold the remaining 52 stores to Waldenbooks in 1987.

In 1978, Jack and Carl sold their interest in Coles Bookstore to Southam Press for a reported $34,000,000. Jack remained as President of the company until the early 80s.

World's Biggest Bookstore

In 1980, Jack opened the World's Biggest Bookstore at the site of a former bowling alley. At the time, it was the largest bookstore in the world at 67,000 square feet (6,200 m2). It was located in downtown Toronto on Edward Street. Although the business is owned by Indigo Books and Music, the building is owned by the family of Jack Cole.

On June 20, 2012, Stuart Smith of CBRE Commercial Real Estate Services announced that the lease on the store's building, set to expire at the end of 2013, would not be renewed by Indigo Books and Music. The World's Biggest Bookstore later closed in March 2014.

Family life

Jack and Carl Cole always put a lot of emphasis on their family. Jack and his wife Esther had 4 children, David, Norma, Jeff and Linda while Carl and his wife Pearl had 2 children, Ted and Bruce.

References

Carl and Jack Cole Wikipedia