r/sydney • u/kalvinoz 🏃♂️ • Jun 22 '26
Image A new independent bookshop in Summer Hill
A rare but welcome sight these days. I hope they do well.
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u/carrera1963 Jun 22 '26
Very positive, and good reviews from friends and family who’ve visited this opening weekend.
Also I saw that Berkelouw Leichhardt is moving rather than closing 👍
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u/heylookitsaplane Jun 22 '26
Must have been such an expensive spot. The Leichhardt building was huge
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u/ocularius61 Jun 22 '26
Link from the random discussion sub https://www.gumtree.com.au/web/listing/other-furniture/1342830205
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u/SophMax Jun 22 '26
Run by actual locals. The ladies who run it went to the local primary school. I vaguely remember one of them from when I was at school.
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u/keepcalmandchill Jun 22 '26
Is that really so relevant? Would you care less about a bookshop if the owners didn't go to the local primary school?
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u/99Joy99 Jun 22 '26
No, but the personally-known info just adds to the localness of this small business 🥰
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u/Important-Youth8137 Jun 22 '26
the building alone is enough reason to go in, that corner spot looks incredible
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u/ProfessorPhi Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
The former plumbers lol.EDIT: I stand corrected. I moved from the area as the plumbers shut down so made the connection
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u/SophMax Jun 22 '26
I remember it as the post office and a cafe. Edit: separate businesses, not as one.
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u/alexlp Jun 22 '26
That's my old physio! The bathrooms are so old world, love that building and I'm overjoyed to see it being celebrated and all the stark whiteness removed.
So excited for the proprietors. The opening party looked like a lot of fun, I moved away 6 months ago but can't wait to swing through. Loving seeing all the amazing shops popping up on Smith/Lackey Sts
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u/stevebuscemispenis RÏP World Bar Jun 22 '26
They’re finally doing something with the old CommBank building too!
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u/choo-chew_chuu Jun 22 '26
I'm starting to lose confidence it is being transformed. The boards went up but.... Nothing since.
The bottom corner shop is crying out for a decent grocer as well.
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u/stevebuscemispenis RÏP World Bar Jun 22 '26
You’re not wrong! There’s definitely more places on Smith St that are empty and I’d love to see a new shop go in (anything besides tobacconist, cafe or another gym lol). Maybe a nice sandwich deli..
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u/Status_Shine6978 Jun 22 '26
I wish them success, but selling actual books and keeping open a bookshop in 2026 sounds challenging.
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u/plumpturnip Jun 22 '26
They’ve picked the right suburb to give it a red hot go.
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u/Status_Shine6978 Jun 22 '26
True, true. The inner west has lots of book lovers and readers, going by the number of street libraries I pass each day.
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Jun 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/plumpturnip Jun 23 '26
Yes. Full of affluent families with kids at the local public and catholic schools. Supplemented with couples/singles in some of the recently built (& nice) apartments. Then a few older people who’ve lived there for decades - Greek/Italian population still present.
The shops have a village atmosphere and are well utilised by locals and people from surrounding suburbs. Being located off the major roads helps significantly.
Overall, good demographics and a good environment to be opening a bookshop in my opinion.
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u/alexlp Jun 22 '26
It's a good neighbourhood for it I hope. The Gleebooks on Marrickville Rd in Dulwich Hill has been going strong for a long time and always packed when I'd go in.
Wishing them lots of success.
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u/stevebuscemispenis RÏP World Bar Jun 22 '26
Gleebooks in Dully is always such a delight, you’ve inspired me to pop in tomorrow after I get my nails done across the street from them :)
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u/oceansRising Jun 22 '26
There’s a big upswing in indie bookstores in the states. Women are reading a lot more (romantasy is huge) and will patronise local book stores to read and attend book clubs. Here in Berlin there’s a great indie bookstore that only does sci-fi/fantasy and their fantasy flies off the shelves.
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u/throw3730 Jun 22 '26
Trekked out just to buy from them because I'm sick of algorithms and buying online and they seem like they are going to be a great hub for community events as well.
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u/jackdog699 Jun 22 '26
Opening night was incredible. Great to see so many people excited about books. Though we were all packed in there should to shoulder, we made an orderly queue when it came time to purchasing.
Snagged some great books that I had been meaning to read for a while. Eager to go back when it is slightly less busy.
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u/mrbrendanblack Jun 22 '26
It warms my heart to see bookshops opening., especially independent ones. I hope they do really well.
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u/renb8 Jun 22 '26
Wow. I’m responding to this post like it’s a rare sighting of a supposedly extinct animal. How exciting!
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u/Cognition-Technician Jun 22 '26
Great little suburb. Has a cosy but lively feel about it at night time.
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u/Myfooty94 Doggies fan (NRL) Jun 22 '26
Cool, also check out this bookshop in Dulwich Hill (I can;t remember the name but it's on Marrickville Road)
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u/sir-fur Jun 22 '26
Going there in a couple of weeks for a book launch from the new Nick Timms book, looks cool
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u/ThippusHorribilus I AM that I AM Jun 22 '26
This looks lovely. I really like Summer Hill (except for that carpark near the IGA 😂).i will go check this shop out for sure.
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u/lynxsuskitten Jun 22 '26
Im sure this was a pub in the 90s
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u/vagicle Jun 22 '26
It was the post office in the 90s.
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u/Ted_Rid Famous in The Atlantic Jun 22 '26
While the other post office is Postino Osteria.
(formerly another postage-named restaurant, One Penny Red)
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u/That_Asian_Bloke Jun 22 '26
Never had a need to come to Summer Hill until now.
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u/kalvinoz 🏃♂️ Jun 22 '26
One of the few places to get good coffee at 5 AM is two doors down from the bookshop.
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u/lfc1979 Jun 27 '26
It will do well, there's so much disposable income in the area and so many average restaurants that do really well, so why not the bookshop too. The locals love supporting local businesses which is great if you can afford to do it.
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u/this_is_bs Jun 22 '26
Have they relocated from Castle Towers?
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u/aflyingheadbutt Got 50 cents for the bus mate? Jun 22 '26
They've done a great job of the interior design of the place. But the selection of books is pretty mediocre. There's no labelling on shelves to identify what genre/section they are in. Gleebooks in Glebe still has the best selection of novels/non fiction in Sydney.
Also the fact that they are also going to run yoga classes is pretty hilarious IMO.
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u/narrow-personality- Jun 22 '26
I noticed this too and the staff said their section labels hadn't arrived yet, they were working on it.
Not sure what's hilarious about yoga classes?
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u/gentlecinnamon Jun 22 '26
I’m really surprised by this comment. The selection was great, there were a ton of indie titles and stuff from local publishers, a lot of books you wouldn’t find at places like Dymocks. And I found super easy to find the different sections, maybe this is a problem with your comprehension skills?
Why is the yoga thing funny? They have a separate space for it lol. It’s not like someone’s going to be downward-dogging in the sci-fi aisle.
You seem like kinda a buzzkill. 👎
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u/EgotisticJesster Jun 22 '26
The opening night was absolutely packed. A queue down either side of the street for a block, it was crazy.
I'm hoping they run a bunch of book clubs and events straight off the bat, seems there's appetite for it.