INDIGO ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH GOOD EARTH COFFEEHOUSE

Good Earth Coffeehouse set to open in select Indigo locations across the country

TORONTO, March 31, 2022 /CNW/ - Indigo (TSX: IDG), Canada's leading book and lifestyle retailer, is delighted to announce a new partnership with Good Earth Cafes Ltd to bring their Coffeehouse experience to select locations across communities in Canada. This partnership marks the start of Indigo's intention to reimagine and convert its available café spaces, with a market by market, and sometimes store by store approach, offering customers regional relevance and supporting local businesses. The focus will be on exceptional customer experience, delicious food and drink, and partnering with like-minded values-based organizations across the country.

"We're excited to partner with Good Earth Coffeehouse to bring their elevated experience to our customers," said Peter Ruis, President, Indigo. "With aligned core values of quality, a commitment to sustainable practices, and bringing people together, it could not be a more natural fit. Good Earth prides itself in being a community coffeehouse with good food, and we're thrilled to be able to offer our customers an opportunity to enjoy the space and connect with one another while they shop with us." 

Founder Nan Eskenazi opened the first Good Earth Coffeehouse in 1991 in Calgary, Alberta and currently operates over 40 locations in six Canadian provinces. Good Earth Coffeehouse was founded on the premise that a coffeehouse can and should be a community gathering place and offer an elevated food experience. Good Earth's handcrafted, ethically sourced coffee and espresso menu is based on the Italian tradition of espresso drinks, chosen for its integrity, simplicity, and authenticity. The beverage menu also includes a variety of cold drinks, including dairy-free smoothies, cold brew beverages, tea lemonades, fresh juices, and seasonal concoctions. The food is made fresh daily from baked goods and hot breakfast items to hearty soups and stews, fresh salads, panini, flatbreads, and desserts.

"We are so pleased to partner with a like-minded brand, one which values community and connectedness.  We believe the social interaction that takes place in our coffeehouses is valuable – as valuable as the exceptional, ethically sourced coffee and fresh food we serve," says Nan Eskenazi, Founder of Good Earth Cafes Ltd.

Keeping with Indigo's core values, Good Earth Coffeehouse attracts customers who want to better align their social and environmental values with a business. Both companies were founded in Canada by women, are committed to sustainability initiatives, and embrace community building and collaborating through a variety of programs, including charitable giving.

Stores will remain open throughout the renovations to the café spaces. Follow along on each local store's social media pages for updates and information.  

About Indigo Books & Music Inc.
Indigo is a publicly traded Canadian company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (IDG). Indigo is Canada's leading book and lifestyle retailer, offering a curated assortment of books, gifts, baby, kids, wellness, and lifestyle products, that support their customers every day and at key life stages by simplifying their journey to live life on purpose. Indigo believes in real books, in living life fully and generously, in being kind to each other and that stories – big and little – connect us.

Indigo founded the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation in 2004 to address the underfunding of public elementary school libraries. Every year the Foundation provides grants to high-needs elementary schools so they can transform their libraries with the purchase of new books and educational resources. To date, the Foundation has committed over $33 million to more than 3,000 elementary schools, benefitting more than 1,000,000 students. Most recently in April 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and unprecedented nation-wide school closures, the Foundation committed $1.0 million to provide books to families in need. To learn more about Indigo, please visit the "Our Company" section at indigo.ca.

Forward-Looking Statements 
Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. To the extent any forward-looking information constitutes "financial outlooks" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, such information is being provided as preliminary financial and operational results. Financial outlooks, as with forward-looking information generally, are, without limitation, based on the assumptions and subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied in this news release. Among the key factors that could cause such differences are: general economic, market or business conditions; the future impacts and government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including any impact to online and/or retail operations of the Company; competitive actions by other companies; changes in laws or regulations; and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, as set out in the Company's annual information form dated June 1, 2021 and available on the Company's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking information and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Any forward-looking information included in this news release is made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking information to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Indigo Books & Music Inc.

Madeleine Löwenborg-Frick (she/her), Director, Corporate Communications, m. 647-326-6633, e. [email protected]