INTHEBLACK August 2024 - Flipbook - Page 26
Photo by Oliver Strewe/The Image Bank Unreleased via Getty Images.
F E AT U R E
Above:
The Leichhardt
branch of Berkelouw
Books. Berkelouw
Books is a chain
of family-owned
bookstores in
New South Wales,
stocking new,
secondhand
and rare books.
Initially founded
in Europe in 1812,
Berkelouw Books
was re-established
in Australia in 1948.
Given the fate of most record stores, which
had perished when competing with digital
music streaming businesses, the global rise
of Amazon left many doubting the viability
of indie bookstores.
It was not the first time that “doomsayers”
were vocal about the bookselling market, says
Robbie Egan, CEO of BookPeople (formerly
the Australian Booksellers Association).
“In the 30 years or so I have been around
bookselling, we have always been perceived
to be in trouble,” Egan says. “The biggest
crisis was REDgroup’s collapse. That was seen
as the end of bookshops. I kept explaining to
media that it was a private equity failing,
not a failing of bookshops.”
In 2011, then-Australian minister for
small business Nick Sherry famously said,
“I think in five years, other than a few
specialist booksellers in capital cities, we will
not see a bookstore – they will cease to exist.”
“He was dead wrong,” Egan says.
SECRET SUPERPOWER
Katie Crawford, sales director at publisher
Pan Macmillan, says the media had “daggers
out” for independent booksellers, because
they were seen as vulnerable.
However, Crawford says, they have
a secret superpower.
“One of the reasons the good indies
thrive is they make a big effort to create
a community hub, not just a retail store.
26 INTHEBLACK August 2024
“That includes things like how they present
themselves with design and shop fit-out.
Readings does it particularly well, but it
is not the only one,” Crawford says.
From the Berkelouw Group and Harry
Hartog to Gleebooks in Sydney, “they have
a vibe that people like to be in, whether they
want to buy anything or not”, Crawford says.
Egan agrees that many people who enter
independent bookstores have little intention
of buying. They simply want to be in the
store. Once there, of course, they do purchase.
“There are studies about placemaking by
bookshops in communities,” Egan says.
“A successful independent bookshop
has a ‘halo effect’. It brings people into
a shopping area.
“They will stop at a nearby wine bar,
go to a movie cinema and have a meal
at a restaurant. They are happy to spend.”
UNDERDOG STORY
In such light, the success of Readings over
corporate giant Borders makes more sense.
Purchases are not always driven by price.
In fact, independent bookstores are always
under attack on price. Corporate chains such
as Big W and Kmart in Australia have long
sold significantly discounted books.
“There is a bit of a grotesque pricing
issue in books in Australia,” Egan says.
“Discount department stores have
a loss-leading strategy. They can sell books
