Arul Thukral
University of Guelph
Ruben Burga
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The Bookshelf is located in downtown Guelph and was established in 1973 by Barb and Doug Minett as a bookstore. As time passed, a cafe, cinema and bar were added to the location making it a hot spot in Guelph. More recently in 2012, the store ownership transferred to Ben and Hannah Minett, children of Barb and Doug. In 2015 The Bookshelf welcomed Mijidaa, a restaurant, to collaborate with, which also has an innovation mindset. We were fortunate enough to meet with Ben and discuss how his company has been involved with many of the UN’s sustainable development goals.
The Bookshelf’s innovation is “to be a business of arts and culture within the community” and to “keep Guelph a sustainable city through knowledge of the arts and culture through novels, cinematics and worldwide culture,” as described by Ben Minett the current owner of The Bookshelf. The Bookshelf’s website posts many events and links to keep all of Guelph knowledgeable on worldwide and local sustainable events that are happening and how to contribute to these. The innovation emerged organically through “seeing that we (The Bookshelf) had to keep up with topics that people needed to and wanted to know about that contributed to the greater society as a whole.”
The innovation is sustainable in that every 3-4 months The Bookshelf tries to incorporate or create a new and improved topic or event that can lead to the citizens of Guelph contributing not only to Guelph, but to addressing worldwide problems. An example is The Bookshelf's fundraiser to fight Ebola. The fundraiser raised $17,000! This effort was widely publicized throughout Guelph newspapers.
Ben and Hannah are two educated individuals who are informed about the unsustainable actions around the world. They acknowledge that there are ongoing issues and are committed in making a difference. They understand that they are in a fortunate position where they can create a positive change in their local community. Their parents had a vision of “taking the company to the next generation”. Inspired by their parents, they continued to make their parents proud by pushing it even further by creating their own vision. With a vision of creating a sustainable world, they immediately began to take action by implementing their own ideas. They believed that they could give back to their local community and decided to take the opportunity in doing so. They took the company beyond their parent’s vision and began their own goal of making an impact in the community.
The bookshelf has had a large impact on the community of Downtown Guelph since 1973; from bringing a new social scene and helping the community of Guelph to creating awareness of global sustainable issues. On the business side of things, by bringing the community together the Bookshelf is not just a bookstore or cafe but an arena for social discourse. The hosting of events and fundraisers over the years has allowed the operation to expand, keep people informed and raise money for different causes.
As a business engaged in an arts and culture theme, getting involved with sustainable practices for The Bookshelf was an easy task. The main objective for the business was to get involved, bring people together and help out the community by creating fundraisers. Not only does this socially benefit everyone, but helps them brand their business to ensure that they are giving as much as they can to the community, which allows them to stand out more than other Guelph businesses.
Since its founding, ownership of The Bookshelf has included a woman. The Bookshelf practices gender equality where individuals are treated equally and fairly to achieve maximum social benefit. This is a great public awareness action that gains a positive image from the community that can benefit them in both short and long term.
The Bookshelf is a unique business, which separates it from other businesses and creates more demand for customers to check out their other goods and services.
The Bookshelf is currently applying for B-Corporation status to confirm their sustainability and social awareness through the audit of their operations. Ben Minnet stated that one of his goals is “to take it to the next generation”. The success of their business ideas are making this goal a reality. The impact on the environment and society is based on the fact that the Bookshelf is a center where information is shared with the Guelph community. It helps inform people of what is going on in the world and provides a place where it brings people together who want to make a difference.
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Ben Minett, The Bookshelf
