Jack Cole World’s Biggest Bookstore

Remembering Jack Cole: Books, Bargains, and a Big Idea

On my walk through Pardes Shalom Cemetery in Vaughan, Ontario, I came across the grave of Jack Cole — brother of Carl Cole and co-founder of the iconic Coles Notes.

In 1980, Jack transformed an old bowling alley on Edward Street, just off Yonge in downtown Toronto, into what he boldly named The World’s Biggest Bookstore. At 67,000 square feet and with more book titles than anywhere else at the time, the claim wasn’t far off — challenged only later by Barnes & Noble’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Many would say The World’s Biggest Bookstore borrowed a page from Honest Ed’s playbook. The store was known not just for its size, but for its atmosphere: bargain bins everywhere, tongue-in-cheek signage, and a kind of literary chaos that was uniquely Toronto. Some memorable examples:

“Books priced so low even people who don’t read too good is buying them.”

“Like other bookstores, we have places to sit. But why aggravate your hemorrhoids?”

And my favourite: “We occasionally have soft mood lighting. But then we replaced the burnt out fluorescent tubes.”

Jack, born Isadore Kollofsky, was a savvy businessman who never lost his sense of humour or his love of books. He passed away in Toronto on January 22, 1997, at the age of 76.

Sadly, the legendary bookstore was demolished in 2014 to make way for a condo — another piece of old Toronto quietly disappearing. But for those who remember it, the World’s Biggest Bookstore wasn’t just about buying books. It was an experience.

1920-1997