How's it all going, Mary Martin Bookshop?

A friend rang today. ‘How’s it all going?’ he asked. He wasn’t the first to enquire, and he won’t be the last. I’m grateful to every person who has asked, as I realise the query comes from a place of care and concern – if perhaps also curiosity. How does an indie bookshop fare during the time of Covid-19?

Well, my answer today is very different to when he asked mid-March as the storm was breaking over us. (Then it was ‘Sorry, I simply don’t trust myself to speak at the moment. Call me back in two weeks?’). It’s likely to be different again when he asks three, six or twelve months from now when we can finally meet face-to-face over a hot meal at any one of Melbourne’s wonderful restaurants (Oh how I miss you, restaurants of Melbourne!)

‘Would you really like to know?’ I responded.

‘Oh yes,’ he said. ‘I’m all ears.’

With that invitation, it all came pouring out. When I finally finished talking, he (a learned man) said to me, ‘Pen to paper, Jaye, pen to paper.’

And so here I am, putting pen to paper. I was an academic in my past life after all, and documenting events is second nature to us. Plus, I am now a bookseller; stories are our bread and butter. The current landscape is so dramatically altered and shifting that the need to capture the impact of Covid-19 on the life of my bookshops is compelling.

It has now been five weeks since Victoria went into Stage 3 restrictions on March 30th, six weeks since my personal tipping point (more on that later), seven weeks since bookseller Kat and I postponed indefinitely all in-store events: preschool storytime, kids and adult book clubs, author events, and a filming at the bookshop for a national TV show. I remember we stared at each other in dismay, mentally going through all the lost opportunities, the disappointed kids, the wasted hours of preparation. We had been all set to act as the official booksellers for Adam Kay’s (of ‘This is going to Hurt’ fame) sold out run of Comedy Festival shows at the Arts Centre. We were very excited – and very committed as we had just pre-ordered tens of thousands of dollars of his books. The (wise) decision to cancel the Comedy Festival was the first major Covid-19 blow for us.

Mary Martin Bookshop operates at three different sites – Southbank, Port Melbourne and Queen Victoria Market. Our shop at Southbank, in the heart of Melbourne, is in the Southgate shopping complex adjacent to the city’s art precinct. It’s nestled amongst several iconic restaurants and ordinarily enjoys the custom of international and interstate travellers and other visitors to the CBD. For the latter, a trip to the Mary Martin is often a little treat they’ve promised themselves on the way to dinner or a show. A separate subset of customers are the thousands of office workers housed in the towers surrounding us. And of course, there are the local residents - apartment dwellers, many of whom have downsized to city existence in the most liveable city in the world. Our Southbank store has been there 30 years and is a second home to many.

At the end of 2018, we opened our Port Melbourne shop mostly because I have always dreamed of a bookshop near the water: a place where I could bring the dog and run on the beach after a day’s work. A lot of hard work and heart, not to mention a significant financial investment, has gone into Port Melbourne. We were just beginning to see an upturn in sales and strengthening local support.

Our little stall at the Queen Victoria market was opened in July 2019. It was a hit at the weekly Night Market and also popular on weekends. Staff loved working in that little shop, indulging in the bohemian life of the open-air bookseller, and visitors seemed delighted to find fantastic local reads as well as beautifully bound classics in our tiny space.  A space, in fact, that allows a total of four people in the shop during Covid-19 times including the bookseller. Not something we had ever expected to have to take into account.

Having three shops in three different locations during this crisis has given me one humbling insight: whether your indie bookshop succeeds or fails during this time has almost nothing to do with how agile, or proficient, or beloved your shop is and almost everything to do with where it is located. So to any of my fellow bookshop owners reading this, my advice is neither beat yourself up if your bookshop isn’t travelling so well, nor feel too smug if it’s doing just fine. In the current circumstance, it has little to do with how good a bookshop you run, it’s rather a matter of dumb luck.

Sunday March 22nd was my tipping point. That was when I realised it was going to get very real, very quickly. We had already been sanitising, disinfecting and practising social distancing from late February. As a former medical researcher, I had kicked into a ‘good laboratory practice’ mindset very early. Staff were advised to treat everyone, and themselves, as though they were contagious. Regular staff communication was established via Whatsapp. Two staff members in early stage pregnancy decided to step down for the time being, another with a history of asthma was put on a different work pattern to minimise exposure. The Southgate shop was already feeling the effect revenue-wise as tourism and visitor numbers plummeted, and the Art Centre and Galleries closed their doors. So I was already on high alert and mentally preparing myself.

Nevertheless, when Daniel Andrews tweeted that Sunday, warning Victorian schools and non-essential businesses to start preparing to close by midday Tuesday (less than 48 hours away), it triggered a seismic shift and real mental switching of gear for me. I was at the Port Melbourne store when I heard: probable shutdown in less than 48 hours. My blood turned ice-cold. I then proceeded to throw myself into a complete, unscheduled clean out and reorganisation of the kitchen/office space at the back of the shop. I recall that Lindsay, who was working the front counter that day, checked in on me several times to make sure I was ok. ‘I’m fiddling while Rome is burning,’ I told her. 

Although it seemed crazy at the time (we might not even have a bookshop to operate in 48 hours, who cares how the kitchen looks!), in hindsight the flurry of activity was the perfect outlet. Not only was my nervous energy channelled productively and my mind cleared, several decisions were made during those few hours – and the back room has never looked better!

I remember thinking, in the event of six months mandatory shutdown, the key decision was whether I aimed for the bookshops to come out the other side. That decision took 0.1 seconds but committing to it was critical, underpinning every decision that followed. I mentally ticked off everything that needed to be done in response.

1. Talk to my Staff

I had already spoken with each member about worse case scenarios, how much leave the permanent staff had, how much support each could rely on the home front and how much of a financial buffer they could expect from the business in the case of shutdown. I also counselled everyone to look into jobseeker in the case of prolonged closure of the shop. Having laid the groundwork on that front, the team were prepared come what may. Tick.

2. Plan for the next 24 hours

The next day, particularly at Port Melbourne, we knew we might have to manage some panic shopping by people preparing for the lockdown. We sent out a message to the wonderful local community Facebook pages, letting people know that we would be open at the crack of dawn the next day and would remain open till midnight as necessary. Customers reacted positively and spaced their shopping out over the day so crowd control was not an issue. For their sustained consideration and civic mindedness, I will forever be grateful to the Port Melbourne locals for complying with the social distancing rules and enabling us to continue operating our shop on Bay St without compromising the health of our staff or the customers. Tick.

3. Come up with a Plan B

In anticipation of a potential quarantine, we had finally launched our online store the week previously. Kat had been working over the past year to get our website up and running and Covid-19 pushed the project over the finish line. It is the loveliest website, every photo an original. We plan to build on this platform and for me, this is one of the many silver linings to eventuate from this crisis. In the event of a total shutdown, we at least had the capacity to sell online. Tick.

4. Negotiate with stakeholders

I’m bound to confidentiality on much of this but suffice to say that Karen (the best book-keeper in town) and I were in constant conversation with our landlords (some open and responsive, others not so much) and our suppliers (ditto) and our bank throughout this time. During times of crises the calibre of an organisation really shows through, exposing their flexibility, agility and willingness to engage. I will say this much. My experience with the big banks is that they really don’t have our backs. But I guess I already knew that from Adele Ferguson’s book. Tick.

As it turned out, the National Cabinet met that night and the Federal and State governments came to a compromise and went into Stage 2, rather than full, restrictions.  Restaurants, gyms, personal service industries went into mandatory shut down. My heart goes out to them. Social restrictions were introduced. Many retailers voluntarily closed, decisions no doubt made according to the unique circumstance of each business – and based on considerations of demand, staff expectations, an honest assessment of health risk and compromise for each store, stakeholder obligations, and financial ballast.  Some in the industry felt an ethical obligation to shut or to stay open. My take was that nobody knew the situation for each shop better in this shifting landscape than the business owner; and thus no one knew our situation better than my team and I.  Every major decision was taken in consultation with them but of course, the final call was mine.  And so, we persevered.

On March 26, the Victorian government decided that all non-food traders at the Queen Vic market had to shut. It was one hundred per cent the right decision. Although in reality, trade had fallen to such a low level that there was minimal health compromise to staff or the community. Social distancing and hand sanitising are easy to implement when your customers arrive in single digits only every few hours. As business owner, I was relieved to close the stall – it was already running at a loss with little respite in sight. So why not close it sooner? Well, not only because we were under contractual obligation to remain open, but also because our casual staff needed time to adjust. Every hour’s pay counted. So we continued until the decision was taken out of our hands. We truly feel for our fellow market traders who have no other income.

Sales plummeted at Southgate as well with restaurants closed and the CBD emptied of workers and tourists. We started ‘cutting our coat to fit the cloth’: hours were reduced, overstocks returned and many orders cancelled while online sales kept the shop ticking along. Why not close the doors? For the same reasons as above, but with the added consideration of our Southbank locals. People have been so happy to find us still opening each day in that sad, dark, unheated building at Southgate. ‘You left your light on!’ one of them exclaimed to me, clapping. Yes, and for that I am very proud.

In Port Melbourne, the community has rallied around us to keep that shop’s sales more or less steady. As restrictions increased, almost every customer who walked in encouraged us, thanked us for giving them some sense of normalcy and supported us in every way they could. I remember the lady who came in, bought a book and confess it was her first ‘real’ book in years. “I usually use my Kindle,’ she said tearing up. ‘But I really need something comforting to hold just now.” My very favourite moment, however, was when a customer came in and picked up a book, seemingly without looking at its cover. She then proceeded to ask me what I had enjoyed reading recently. I mentioned a couple of favourites. She said she’d grab those too. Then she went around the shop and took a couple more off the shelves. ‘I don’t even read’, she said. ‘But I simply adore your shop, and you must survive!’. I plan to.

Bless her and all our wonderful customers.

And bless both the Federal and State Governments. The Andrews government gave us a $10,000 boost, while Morrison and Frydenberg released the business and livelihoods saving Jobkeeper scheme. It’s made me thankful to be Australian.

Most of all though, bless my team – Kat, Suzy, Lindsay, Cameron, Lana, Emma, Julian and Mia. Their flexibility, solidarity, calm and pure love to do the right thing by the bookshop almost, and in several instances did, exceed my own. Supported by such gems, I feel ready to take on the next phase.

Our Southgate store (10:30 – 4pm) and Port Melbourne store (10 – 5 pm) are open daily.