A respected bookstore and a restaurant in Winnipeg's downtown are set to close up shop.

Aqua Books has been operating in Winnipeg for 12 years, with its previous location on Notre Dame Avenue, before it relocated to Garry Street. The EAT! Bistro is also connected to the bookstore. 

Kelly Hughes, co-owner of the establishment, said the bookstore has seen a drop of 30 per cent in business.

"Book sales have pretty much been growing – they grew for 11 years. And about a year ago, they stopped growing and started sinking," said Hughes.

"People in the past may have been reading and now they're surfing the internet and doing whatever they're doing," said Hughes.

Another local book retailer, McNally Robinson, was forced to close two Canadian stores in 2010. It's trying to adapt to the new landscape.

"Go to our website and buy e-books from us and we'll see if that helps as book sales decline," said Chris Hall from McNally Robinson.

For fans of Aqua Books, meanwhile, news of the impending closure hit hard.

"My heart's just broken," said Leanne Fournier. "I'm very sad. I have a big lump in my throat. It's just terrible to see something fail that just meant so much to so many people."

Aqua Books had multiple events scheduled for inside the store through to March and owners are now trying to figure out what to do with all those.

Kelly Hughes said a closing date hasn't been confirmed yet, but it likely won't be before the end of September.

- with a report from CTV's Rachel Lagacé