One of Maitland’s best loved stores - the slightly chaotic, jam-packed Posims second hand book store - is about to close its doors.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Owner Chris den Hollander has put the shop up for sale after 10 years in operation.
“It will be a very sad day,” Chris, 71, admitted.
“But it’s time for me to move on and my son Anthony wants to do other things, so it’s time to let it go. I’m just waiting for a buyer.”
Chris, who has become a reader over the years - “my wife Gabriela still reads five books to my one” - has already removed eight cubic metres of books in readiness for the big clearout.
“When I bought the store it had about 17,000 books, but I did a stocktake a few years back and that number had grown to 50,000."
That’s not surprising.
Take a stroll through the shop and it seems every inch of wallspace, and much of the floor for that matter, is taken up by books of all size and type.
To help move some books, there’s a huge discount sale on now.
“I’ve contacted Newcastle University and they’re going to take some books, but I hate the thought of having to destroy books ... that would be a highly emotional day.
“I just want to sell as many as I can before I sell.”
Chris believes his ownership of the store was fate, something that was meant to be.
Working in Melbourne 40 years ago, Dutch born Chris would spend a lot of his lunch hours across the road from work in a book store.
“I’d always thought it was something that would be ideal for me in retirement,” he explained.
“Then when I retired I was living in Mayfield and we had friends around one day one Saturday and our wives were talking about the lack of book stores in central Maitland.
“Then on the Monday I had a call from my friend’s wife who said: guess what, there’s a book store for sale right in the middle of Maitland.
“I went straight up and virtually bought it on the spot. It was just too much of a coincidence.”
Oh, and if you’re wondering about the name, Posims is short for Chris’s previous business - Point of Sale Integrated Marketing Systems.
“It’s been a good 10 years. I just love it when people walk in and say how much they love the smell of old books ... the feel of the place.
“It will be hard to turn my back on it.”
