Sisters Karlee Bedford and Ashley Lindley opened Lit Wine & Books in Collingwood, Ontario, in April 2026. (Nicole Davidson Photography)

Shop Talk is an occasional feature in which fledgling independent booksellers take Q&Q into their stores and share their reasons for opening and what business has been like so far. 

Lit Wine & Books
321 Hurontario Street
Collingwood, Ontario

Karlee Bedford and Ashley Lindley grew up in a house full of books. 

Their mother was a teacher-librarian, and reading was an unquestioned part of life. But as the sisters grew older, pursued careers and found their day-to-day lives grow more hectic, reading began to fade, playing less of a role in their lives.

It wasn’t until they were faced a few years ago with the loss of their parents that they found their way back to books. 

“Someone recommended A Court of Thorns and Roses, and that world became exactly the escape we needed while navigating grief,” the sisters say. “We devoured the entire [Sarah J.] Maas universe, and somewhere between those books and countless conversations over a glass of wine, we started asking ourselves what we wanted our own lives to look like.”

That vision took a very specific shape: what if they opened a bookstore together? They took that idea further and wondered what a bookstore could look like if it also served wine. 

“Eventually the conversation became, ‘What if we built the place we wish existed?’” they say. 

The pair opened Lit Wine & Books on April 18 in Collingwood, Ontario, a town on the southern shore of Georgian Bay. The romantasy-focused bookstore and wine bar is about 1,000 square feet, and the sisters run the store with two additional staff. The wine bar offers a menu of small bites and the store also includes a small bottleshop area.

Though they’ve been open for only a few months, they have already noticed that the readership for romantasy is much broader than they expected. 

“We’ve watched readers of every age and background fall in love with these stories. We think that’s because romantasy offers more than dragons or magic,” they say. “At its heart, it’s about hope, resilience, belonging, and love. It’s escapism with emotional depth. The genre meets people exactly where they are: exhausted, hungry for beauty, and in search of a world where love and magic are real and the good ones mostly win.

Bedford and Lindley recently talked to Q&Q via email about what the first months of business together have been like.

Why open Lit Wine and Books in 2026?

We could feel a real shift happening in the reading community. Romantasy had become more than a genre; it had become a cultural phenomenon that was bringing people back to reading. We wanted to create a home for those readers while also inviting new ones into a world that feels equal parts dreamy, welcoming, and beautifully curated. 

Lit Wine & Books was created as an independent bookstore with thoughtfully curated books, exceptional wine, and as a space designed to encourage people to slow down, stay awhile, and reconnect with stories and with each other.

How has the community and its readers responded to the store?

The response has exceeded anything we imagined. One of our favourite moments is watching someone walk through the door for the first time. There’s usually a pause while they take in the shelves, the decor, the wine bar – and then they gasp or they grin. That reaction reminds us exactly why we built it.

We’ve been incredibly fortunate to build a community of regular customers and members in just a few short months, and our monthly book club has sold out for its first three meetings.

The local business community has embraced us with genuine generosity. We’ve already formed partnerships with neighbouring small businesses, collaborated with fellow independent bookstores, and have been welcomed into a community that believes independent businesses are stronger together.

How do you reach potential readers?

Word of mouth has been our biggest driver of growth, which feels incredibly rewarding because it means people are sharing Lit with their friends. We also have an active Instagram community where we showcase new releases, wine pairings, events, and of course, bookish memes. Working with local creators has also helped introduce us to new readers, but ultimately our strongest marketing has been creating an experience people want to tell others about.

What are your goals for the bookstore? 

Right now we’re focused on growing thoughtfully rather than quickly. We’re continuing to build our community through events, book clubs, partnerships, and carefully curated inventory. Long term, we hope Lit becomes one of those places people associate with Collingwood – a destination people seek out whether they’re local or visiting. We want it to be a business that stays in our family, evolves with our community, and continues creating meaningful experiences around books and wine for years to come.

What has been most surprising or unexpected about opening a bookstore or about your first few months in business?

A welcome surprise has been how naturally books create connection. We regularly see complete strangers begin talking while browsing the shelves, exchanging recommendations, or discovering they’ve both loved the same novel. It’s not uncommon to see someone settle into a chair with a glass of wine and leave having made a new friend. We hoped Lit would feel like a gathering place, but watching that happen organically has been incredibly rewarding.

On a practical level, we’ve also developed a whole new appreciation for the complexity of bookselling – from forecasting demand across thousands of titles to managing inventory and supplier relationships. As with all small businesses, there’s an enormous amount happening behind the scenes.

This interview has been edited and condensed.