Australia has only half the number of bookstores it had a decade ago. But as the industry calls for more public support, some optimistic booksellers are bucking the trend
Stephanie Beck and Mischa Parkee bonded over their love of reading when they were teenagers, joking that one day they’d open their own bookshop. Now, despite both 31-year-olds having full-time teaching jobs, they’ve fulfilled their dream, opening an art deco corner store in Sydney’s Summer Hill called The Rose Read Bookshop.
When Beck’s mother died last year, she was left with an inheritance, which she used to invest in the shop. “I thought, this is not a money-making venture,” but it felt like a “meaningful way” to use it, she says.