Bookstores broke in Bondi

Booklovers in Bondi mourned the passing of an old friend this month as Zabriskie Booksellers on Hall Street closed its doors after years of service to the community.

The once iconic and vibrant shopfront now stands sealed, banners read “closing down” and “last day” and debris fills the space  once filled with books.

Zabriskie is the latest in what has been a bad month for Bondi booksellers. REDgroup Retail’s collapse last month has put even the bigger stores in Bondi Junction on notice with the administrator of the business, which owns Borders and Angus and Robertson, saying that some of the 146 shops may be closed this weekend.

Jane Turner is the owner and co-founder of Gertrude and Alice Cafe Bookstore, also located on Hall Street. Ms Turner said she felt “really sad” about Zabriskie’s closure.

“In Hall Street there was great synergy between our businesses,” she said. “Them being a new bookshop and us being second-hand, their bookshop was small and carried all the new books and we kept a big backlist.”

Ms Turner believes online sales have been the major contributor to the recent decline.

“I have an 18-year-old son who only reads off an e-reader,” she said. “That’s the way it’s going.”

Ms Turner expressed relief that her business was more than a bookshop, saying it was hard to pay rent in the Bondi area. The bookshop has a cafe and will soon include a wine bar.

“I’m constantly watching the trends and trying to adapt our business to keep up,” she said. “We are very lucky to have different facets to our business.”

Anne Skyvington, president of the Bondi Writers Group, spoke with The Bondi View about what hope was left for local writers, established or still trying to get their foot in the door.

“A lot of writers are now thinking of publishing online; they get more profit that way if they sell,” she said.

Ms Skyvington stressed that while there may be more avenues for getting work published, good writing was still essential for works to sell.

“People are going online with edited work to lulu.com or smashwords.com and if it’s good it will sell.”

The group, formed under the banner of the Fellowship of Australian Writers, has just released Bondi Tides an anthology which is free to download and read on their website.

Asked about prevailing themes in the anthology, Ms Skyvington said the works were eclectic.

“They tend to be a bit dark,” she said. “But there is some brightness in there too.”

A fitting summary for the future of books in Bondi.