The World's Biggest Bookstore is set to close this February as the site on which it sits at 20 Edward St. has been sold to Lifetime Developments. Like the Honest Ed's sale, the deal to sell the iconic bookstore was brokered by the son of original owner Jack Cole (founder of Cole Books). "I was with my dad the day he bought it in 1979. My dad would have wanted what was best for his family," David Cole told The Toronto Star. Although there are no immediate plans for the site, Lifetime's portfolio (which includes the Four Seasons Hotel and a slew of condo projects around Toronto), it's not difficult to imagine the what the future holds for the site.

The store is currently being leased by Indigo Books, but February marks the end of its contract, and store representatives claim that the rent for the space is not feasible. Although not the biggest bookstore in the world or even really the best bookstore in Toronto, the boxy retailer had a quirky charm to it that will surely be missed - well that and the fact that it's yet another Toronto bookstore that will have shuttered in the last few years.

Photo by Steve Harris on Flickr