Meet the stockistState Bookstore Tasmania

Friday 2nd February 2024

Candlestick Press

The State Bookstore in Tasmania has only recently become a Candlestick stockist. But this hasn’t stopped the in-store team from being enthusiastic champions of our ‘instead of a card’ range. Here, Store Manager Sarah James tells us a little more about the bookstore and what makes it tick so successfully.

• Tell us a little about the bookshop, where it’s located and its history etc.
• Originally located in the historic Soundy Building (1883), and now positioned in a new expanded store adjoining the cinema on Elizabeth Street in the vibrant North Hobart cultural hub, the State Bookstore is a boutique store, selling a wide range of genres but specialising in art, architecture, travel, biography and of course film!

  
• What are the unique aspects of the shop? What do you think your customers particularly appreciate?
• Being attached to a cinema puts us in a unique position to provide patrons with books about the subjects they’ve just seen on the big screen! It also helps that the cinema is an institution in Hobart, with the cinema recently celebrating its 110th birthday – it helps to feel like we are part of the island’s history.

  Our customers definitely appreciate the specially curated selections and the effort that has gone into creating a comfortable atmosphere within the store. We also have a fantastic selection of giftware that isn’t available elsewhere – alongside all the books.

  
• Where do you display your Candlestick pamphlets?
• Our Candlestick Pamphlets are stationed on a rotating card spinner that is positioned near the front of the store by the entrance.

  
• Do you have a Candlestick best-seller?
• Our best sellers are Ten Poems About Trees and Ten Poems About Flowers.
• If we could make a wish come true and publish a title specially for your shop, what would it be?
• Ten Poems About Wombats!
• What are your ambitions for the bookshop in the future?
• We are happy with our store and our customers, so we would mostly like to be known for the good work we’re doing and the wonderful space we provide.
• Last but not least, do you have a favourite poem or poet you’d like to share with us?
• My mother has Scottish heritage and so growing up I listened to a lot of Celtic music and poetry. Robbie Burns therefore holds a very special place in my heart.