AFTER embarking on the exciting journey of purchasing a beautiful and established bookshop, owners of The Maleny Bookshop in Maple Street have made the decision to sell their beloved shop.
Ian and Harper Bayly took over the reigns in July 2020 right after a two month imposed lockdown. How did they forge through? “We did this by being strategic and not relying on chance,” Ian explained. “We took steps to catalogue the whole shop and put it online, we created our own database and have now over 12,000 titles available to the whole world. The very first online sale was to Taiwan. As a result, we went on to invest heavily on SEO and our online presence to build that side of the business to ‘future proof’ the bookshop well into the future.”
Two years later however, Ian shared his health isn’t doing the best and he can no longer keep the hours he once did. Ian said it’s time to let someone else’s dream of owning an amazing bookshop become their reality. “Not just any bookshop either, one that’s got a good online presence, a growing mailing list, 35 years of goodwill and the love and affection of beautiful people whom I don’t just call regulars, their friends,” he said. What they’d like to know now is, are you ready to take up the mantle and enjoy the fruits for many years to come?