“Quick, which bookstore in town carries lesbian and gay books?," asked a Womonspace News article in the spring of 1991. "If you said Common Woman Books, you’re only half right." The other half of the answer was Greenwoods' Bookshoppe, which first opened on Whyte Avenue in 1979, just before Common Woman Books (8208 104st) set up shop a few blocks west in 1981. For over three decades, Greenwoods' offered space for queer stories, both on and off the page.

Siblings Gail, Brad, and Laurie Greenwood opened their bookstore in a time of rapid transformation for Whyte Avenue. The Old Strathcona Foundation was in the midst of renovating the historical Tipton Block where Greenwoods' moved in, only a few doors down from the historic Princess Theatre. The building renovations, benches, brick sidewalks and old-fashioned lamps all contributed to revitalizing the streetscape, while independent stores like Greenwoods' offered a unique selection and expertise that made Old Strathcona one of Edmonton's most alternative and vibrant neighbourhoods. Inside the simple-yet-classy high-ceilinged store with its exposed brick, whitewashed walls and oak and plaster mouldings, Edmontonians found shelves with many unconventional categories. “One of us is always here to take customer requests and to listen to what they have to say,” Gail Greenwood explained in an interview with the Edmonton Journal. “And our buying patterns reflect what customers want. We don't have a western section, we don't even have a romance section."

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