A specialty bookstore patronised by all types of readers in Brisbane is temporarily scaling down its operations as it looks for a new home. Folio Books has to relocate as soon as possible because its seven-year lease on Mary Street has been terminated.
The owner of the CBD building on Mary Street plans to demolish the site to make way for a 23-level office tower with food and drink outlets on the ground floor. Property manager ARA Private Funds lodged the development application in September 2020 (DA A005559278) but Council has yet to make a decision.
Folio Books, however, said that their landlord informed them in mid-March to vacate the site so they had to suspend gift voucher sales and online trading.
“All online orders are currently suspended due to our shop having to relocate after April, due to the building being demolished,” the bookstore owners wrote on their website. “Please email us at folio@foliobooks.com.au or call us on 07 3210 0500 for all enquiries.”
Earlier, the bookstore operators said that they could close the store for a period of time as they set up a still-undetermined new venue.
Pre-COVID, it was usual to find booklovers loitering at this Mary Street bookstore to browse its extensive book hard-to-find book collection. When the pandemic struck, Folio Books successfully shifted to online service and offered free deliveries for more than two book purchases.
Meanwhile, RACQ has written to the Council about the planned redevelopment of the Mary Street location. Whilst RACQ is not opposed to the new building, it has raised concerns about the bulk of the planned tower and the potential disruption of the sightlines on Edward Street.
