Last week Alice Macfarlan headed down to Polyester Books on Brunswick Street, Melbourne, to talk to the guys about what was going on with the independent bookstore industry, and why stores like Polyester Books are doing it tough.
On Polyester Books’ twitter feed there’s a link to anarticle about an art project in New York. Side by side photos taken at a 10 year interval of shop fronts highlight the rapid loss of independent stores for chain stores. Record stores, mom and pop diners, barbers; these are replaced by Subway®, Dunkin’ Donuts, and, perhaps saddest, empty shops, where the increasing rent has beat out the independents even in locations deemed undesirable by larger companies.
This trend is one that Polyester Books co-owner, Jo Emslie, says she has seen happening on Brunswick St in the four years that she and her husband, Adam, took over the 30 year old independent bookstore. With rent on Brunswick St increasing and the demographic that frequents the strip changing, there has been a gentrification process that has seen many stalwarts of Brunswick’s Street’s once vibrant culture struggle to stay afloat, or move out of the immediate area into more affordable properties elsewhere. These are replaced, often, by larger chain stores that can afford the higher prices.
The fight for the cultural survival of the street is, unsurprisingly, unhelped by the paradigm shift taking place in the way people shop. People are changing their shopping habits and going online. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – we all know there’s a lot to be said for online shopping and its convenience, and many stores are embracing the online commercial world, including Polyester Books which uses Bitcoin as a currency option. However, technology is a double edged sword and it does have an impact on feet in the door and books off the shelves for independent sellers.
Polyester Books, as anyone who has visited might know, is not your typical bookstore and one might think that this would help insulate them from the market changes that are taking place. One of the features of the brick and mortar store is that it’s a place people can go and feel safe. “There’s a valuing of the individual … [people know] that we’re not going to judge,” says Jo. This is important in a store where the stock includes, according to their Facebook page, books on “drug information, a full range of Satanic literature, erotic instructional aids, sexy t-shirts, conspiracy theories and political rants of every persuasion.” There’s also a hefty range of music biographies and fiction, incase that’s more up your alley. Jo describes their specialty as “sex, drugs and rock and roll,” and it’s tempting to agree with her when she suggests that when you walk in you’ll more than likely walk out with something that you’d be unlikely to find in another bookstore. Like “Semenology: The semen bartender’s handbook” by Paul “Fotie” Photenhauer, for example.
However, even Polyester Books’ niche market position has not protected them from the changing conditions of the area and this and the move away from bricks and mortar shopping has meant they’ve had to, very sadly, let go of their fantastic staff and rethink how they run their business. While moving away from Brunswick Street into a more affordable area is not ruled out as a possibility, other creative ways of staying above water are being explored. Floating around on the cards at the moment, for example, is the possibility of turning the upstairs of the bookstore into an air-BnB for travellers to come and stay for a night or two. They’ve also been helped in other initiatives by an ex-staff member who organised a fundraiser for Polyester Books at the Bendigo Hotel on the the 15th of April, which featured a range of bands including The Lucy Wilson Band, Regrets, Apart From This and The Bennies belting their little hearts out in support of this cultural icon. While events like these help to raise a bit of cash for the store, more importantly they help to raise the level of consciousness around the plights of independent stores and remind people that without support and patronage, these institutions may very well disappear.
One of the first things people say to Jo when she tells them what she does is, “I love your shop! I haven’t been there in ages!” What Jo would like, is, very simply, for people to “every now and then … pop their heads in”.
You can find Polyester Books at 330 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Victoria, 3065 or visit them online.
