Annerley Community Bookshop forced to close
A much-loved community bookshop is being forced to close its doors permanently after 20 years of business in Brisbane’s south.
Southeast
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It is the end of an era for a quaint community bookshop on Brisbane’s southside which is closing on Sunday.
Rising operating costs and time-poor people have sadly killed the much-loved Annerley Community Bookshop, according to volunteer and two-day-a-week paid employee Paul Hodges.
For 20 years, the bookshop has been an “inclusive community space” and a place for booklovers to spend hours browsing through the thousands of second-hand books on offer.
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But with e-books on the rise and people consuming so much online each day, the bookstore’s sales have steadily been declining.
Mr Hodges, who has been part of the Annerley Community Bookshop for 15 years, said the 50 volunteers involved with the not-for-profit bookshop were “devastated” about the closure.
He said almost two years ago passionate locals had saved the bookshop from closing by setting up a GoFundMe page.
About $10,000 was raised and kept the Ipswich Rd bookshop alive until now but a rise in rent and potential future rises undoubtedly meant the end of the store.
“We’ve already reached the point of no return,” Mr Hodges said.
“We’ve looked at other options.”
Back in its heyday the Annerley Community Bookshop, which is located within the Annerley Arcade, put the store’s profits back into the community. But these daybook sales barely covered operating costs.
Mr Hodges said for the past decade the bookshop had a “sympathetic” landlord but the new owner, while supportive and sympathetic, had to up the rent to “recoup” some of the money.
Attempts
The rent has gone up from $2000 a month to $2400 a month, according to Mr Hodges.
But Mr Hodges said the rent amount was not about greed because it was still well below market value.
Books are on sale for $1 and the leftovers will be donated after the store’s closure to Braille House, which is looking to open an op-shop locally.
The opening hours for the last three days of trading are: Friday — 9.30am-5pm, Saturday — 9.30am-5pm and Sunday — 10am-2pm.
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