Mark's Say, May 2018
It was 20 years ago that Readings Carlton moved from 338 Lygon St to its current location at 309 Lygon Street. It was a big move; Ross Reading, Peter Reid and Ross’s partner Dorothy Reading originally opened in 388 Lygon Street in 1969 and moved a few years later to 384 Lygon Street in the old Holdsworth Building, home of the Pram Factory. When that site was redeveloped in 1998, Readings had to find another home. A hairdresser down the road agreed to sell their business to us but that fell through when the landlord wouldn’t take us as a tenant – books were too risky. I heard that the hairdresser in the next block was moving to London hoping to cater to London society. He wanted $100,000 to vacate and later changed that to $200,000. Having little choice we agreed and, fortunately, so did the landlord, the family of the kosher butcher, Watkins, who occupied the site in the 1920s.
The book industry was changing and we were growing; we desperately wanted a bigger site. When the State Savings Bank of Victoria collapsed in 1990 and was absorbed by the Commonwealth Bank, the CBA suddenly had two premises in Lygon Street and they consolidated into one. The branch at 309 lay mostly vacant until in 1997 the board went up – Auction! My business partner, Steve Smith, and I asked each other – could we possibly buy it? Steve and I could pool our super for a deposit and borrow the rest. Surprisingly, we were successful but we needed another $1 million to do it and had to use all our assets to guarantee the loan. Typically, I woke in the middle of the night and announced to my wife that we’d made a dreadful mistake and we were going to lose our house. Fortunately, Steve was more sanguine and was proved right; no houses were lost.
We commissioned the firm of Edmond and Corrigan to do a design that would do Readings and the building proud. They did and 20 years ago the new shop was opened by the then Opposition Leader and regular patron, Kim Beazley. Readings Carlton became the iconic bookshop it is today and in 1998 we won Independent Bookseller of the Year, an award I had coveted since its inception; until then it had always been won by my dear friends at Gleebooks in Sydney. We’ve won many times since and in 2016 won the inaugural International Bookstore of the Year Award at the London Book Fair.
When we renovated in 1988, architect Peter Corrigan wanted us to take out the bank’s giant vault (he also wanted us to build a secret roof-top bar!) but, afraid of the cost, we said no. Ever since we’ve regretted it and finally, on 22 May, we close to take out that vault and to build a new space to house Readings for the next 20 years. Am I panicking? Yes. Is Steve sanguine? I think he is. Will you like it? I hope so! It will be different and the same. Designed by Nest Architects, it will be ‘classic and timeless’. Nest principal Emilio Fuscaldo is aware of Readings’ legacy and of his responsibility. Emilio’s partner is writer Anna Krien; her words to Emilio were, ‘Don’t you dare fuck it up.’
While we renovate, Mario Lo Giudice from Lygon Court is giving us some space there for a pop-up shop so we don’t disappear.
You can find out more more information about the upcoming renovations here.
