If you've found yourself wandering around the East End recently, you might have spotted Betty Loves Books, an independent bookshop within The Station (former Newcastle Train Station), started by Emily Devine and Katie Bleus.
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The two women (who have day jobs in other industries) decided to follow their passion for reading into the business of books.
"The end of last year, Emily was housesitting for me. I was travelling around Australia and thinking about how nice it would be to open a bookshop," Bleus says.
She had taken six months off from her nurse job to travel with her family around the country. She also began exploring bookshops around Australia. She left no shelf unbrowsed.
She texted Devine her idea and told Devine she wanted her to be her business partner. When Bleus returned to Newcastle in December the pair began weekly meetings. They launched their website and had their first market in February. They found there was a demand. They continued with the markets, and the shop opened on June 30.
"Specifically to what I think would really fit here, we didn't have that. We have franchises or very focused second-hand bookshops," Bleus says.
"I want a colourful inviting place that has a mixture of both new and second-hand books, and that's how it all came about."
The new books are immaculately displayed. There's a cosy nook with cushions to read at and relax as well.
"We want to display them like works of art. We didn't want them spine out. On the tabletop you get new books," Bleus says.
Second-hand books are available under the table as well, carefully selected and only from 2015 onwards.
"We can't compete with Qs and Cooks Hill and we didn't want to, but we wanted affordable literature," she says.
"Our space isn't that big so we can't have everything but what we do have is really high quality."
They love talking to customers about books.
"We read a lot. We're in conversation with people who read a lot. We curate it to be specific to what our brand is. We have a lot of Australian authors because we both love them. If we don't have what you want, we'll order it for you as well," she says.
The shop is filled with local art for sale as well, including work from Amy Charlton, Anne Marie Hunter, Sunny Studio, Squidless Studios and more.
The two make a variety of teas, too, Betty Loves Tea.
"Our tea was born out of Emily's very healthy obsession with tea," Bleus says.
"They're mostly herbal. We have a tummy tea, which helps with bloating anxiety as well. I used to drink it all the time when I was pregnant."
The two have funded the project themselves, making a conscious decision not to go into debt. They would love to make Betty Loves Books their main bread and butter.
Betty Loves Books: Thursday-Saturday 10-5, Sunday 10- 4; bettylovesbooks.com.au
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