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Many were reading books in print because being offline was good for their mental health. They were also promoting the bookshop trail via“BookTok” on TikTok and other social media platforms.
Young people may be buying more books,but Jarvis said many bookshop owners like Weller are thinking of retiring. “It is fair to say succession in on their minds,” he said.
Jarvis,36,bought Fullers Bookshop in Hobart two and a half years ago from his former boss,Clive Tilsley,who owned it for 40 years.
Higher book sales during COVID were responsible for the increase in bookshops,said the chief executive of Dymocks,Mark Newman. Whether that would continue was unclear,he said.
Newman said to survive competition from big retailers like Big W,which sell most new releases at 50 per cent off,non book sales had increased. “Proper bookshops are forced to sell other products to generate enough margin to sustain the costs of running a bricks and mortar store,” he said.
Dymock’s larger stores such as George Street in the Sydney CBD generate around 30 per cent of sales from non book products,and the smaller stores have a target of 20 per cent.
Lifeline’s two bookshops on Sydney’s north shore have also seen a remarkable growth in sales,generating $800,000 to support its help lines and counselling services,the chief executive of Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury regions Elizabeth Lovell said.
Demand was driven by young people from teens to university students who were “inhaling everything to do with fiction,science fiction”.
The bookshops are staffed by volunteers,including Morrison,who works at the Hornsby Lifeline bookshop.
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Since lockdown,Morrison,a bookish person with bookish friends,has continued to read,and is now studying library services at TAFE.
She said many young people her age were reading more,and many were coming to Lifeline to buy second-hand books. “They want more fantasy,” she said.
Coin said to adapt to competition from big retailers,booksellers like her sold a range of companion items,including cards by local artists,puzzles and games.
“I sell socks and books,they are a great combo. In winter,we do a roaring trade,” she said.
Weller said he had received a dozen inquiries from people interested in buying the bookshop. “The book will long outlast all of us,” he said. “You don’t find people sitting on the toilet with their Kindle.”[That’s a claim that is hard to fact-check.]