Book sales, marketing, and distribution agency Brunswick Books is closing this spring after more than 40 years in business.

President Lindsay Sharpe announced the news in a note to customers and clients last week.

“I am very sorry to be sharing such bad news after an awful two years, and I cannot express how much we have appreciated representing this wonderful group of titles to the Canadian market over the many years,” Sharpe wrote.

The closure was prompted in part by changes at the warehouse Brunswick Books uses to fulfil their orders. The third-party warehouse operator will be leaving their current space at the end of May. Due to an increase in warehouse rents, the new warehouse will be smaller, and the third-party operator will no longer be able to handle Brunswick Books’ orders, wrote Sharpe.

“We have explored other options, but those same costs of warehouse space have made that sort of lateral move impossible,” Sharpe wrote.

Brunswick Books is working to set up their client publishers with new distributors. They plan to fulfill as many orders as possible through the end of April but are unlikely to be able to fill any orders after May 6.

Returns will be accepted through to the end of April, but stores are encouraged to make returns to publishers’ new distributors. Brunswick Books can transfer back orders to the new distributors or provide stores a back order report.

Brunswick Books was founded in Toronto in 1978 as Fernwood Books.