Seventeen years ago Annie Grossman signed the lease on her first ever book business and Annie’s Books on Peregian was born, becoming an institution in Noosa as a sought-after destination for avid readers and a popular stop for visiting authors.
With a life punctuated by varied journeys Annie decided the time has come to begin a new episode, but wanting to leave her “baby“ in safe hands she has sought out like-minded bookshop owners with Lea and Rob Dodds of Rosetta Books at Maleny buying the business while Annie will continue to manage it in a scaled-back capacity.
A lover of books and the arts was instilled in her in childhood as Annie grew up in her Sydney home “bulging with books“ with parents enamoured with literature and theatre.
About 30 years ago Peregian Beach was a stopover point for Annie in a journey home to Sydney from Airlie Beach where she had spent 10 years working in tourism, running a commercial diving business.
As fate would have it she met a man and stayed, had two children, and landed a dream job as a bookseller at the ABC’s Written Dimension, a very well known book shop at Noosa Junction at the time.
Ten years on construction work was happening at Peregian Village and she found her own little shop, quit her job, signed the lease and so began another chapter.
“That time was really surreal. I can’t remember doing it but I did it. It’s the first business I set up,“ she said.
“I must have got on to all the right government departments.
“I remember sitting at my dining table in my pink dressing gown at three o’clock in the afternoon ordering books, which was very exciting.
“I knew how to do that. I knew the reps. All the publishers supplied me with information.
“It was a lot to wade through. There wasn’t as much online as there is now. There were catalogs everywhere.
“I bought an enormous number of books and when it came to putting them on the shelves it looked like I had none.
“I bought the shelving from Ikea. They’ve held up extremely well.
“I went through a stage of freaking out when people bought the books because I thought If you buy that book I don’t have another one. I got over that. I had nightmares about having an empty shop.“
The little shop not only survived, but thrived as the community embraced it.
“I got into a bit of a rhythm,“ Annie said. “It was pretty easy in a way because I knew how the industry worked but I was confident with my own knowledge of literature.“
Annie’s varied work life, which began with her first job as a stage manager in the theatre in Sydney, and includes working on a farm, proved to be the ideal background for running a book store.
“I can talk about cricket. I can talk about farming, all kinds of things and I think I’ve got good communication skills which you absolutely have to have,“ she said.
After selling books to the Noosa community for more than 25 years Annie knows her market, and what her customers absolutely love in addition to books is to meet the authors at lunches and events organised by Annie and her long-standing team of Palmira and Rachel along with newcomer Beck.
“We’ve had Tim Winton (a favourite author of Annie’s), some of Australia’s biggest names and internationals and people like Kevin Rudd,“ she said.
The long list includes Peter Garrett, Bryan Brown, Richard Fidler, Myf Warhurst, Richard Clapton, Tom Carroll, Noosa author Phil Jarrett, crime writers like Chris Hammer and Candice Fox and some great chefs.
“It’s a wonderful thing, the fact we’re a small community, our events are much more intimate. They get to talk to the author if they want to. You go to an event in Sydney you get 300-400 people and you don’t get that intimacy,“ Annie said.
Annie is immensely proud of her work and her little shop which was twice shortlisted for bookseller of the year and is well regarded by her peers.
“I’m only little but I make a lot of noise. People know about me in the industry,“ she said.
“This business is so much about who I am in myself and in the community and that’s a terrifying thing.“
Annie has sold the business but plans to be selling books for a lot of years yet and wants the community to be assured Annie’s Books is staying put.
“I’ve been thinking of selling the shop because I think it needs a bit of new energy, also I’m at that age where I can go on a pension if I want to , and I’ve started to produce grandchildren,“ she said.
“My grandchildren don’t live here. One in Auckland, one in Melbourne, so I need to travel for them. I’d also like to have some time. I’d like to do a bit more gardening, a bit more cooking, maybe a bit more reading.
“I felt the timing was right so I was delighted when I threw the fishhook in and I caught them.
“These people Rob and Lea Dodd have Rosetta Books up at Maleny, a very large and very successful book store. They’ve had Rosetta Books for about two and a half years and they’ve taken it to a whole new level.
“They are so similar to me in their attitude toward the business, their love of the business and also their commitment to community which has always been a thing for me.
“I don’t know what the future’s going to bring. It looks pretty rosy to me. The best thing is I’m going to hand my baby to people who are going to love and care for it.“
“People say to me, don’t you ever go anywhere. We need you here and I believe that. It’s a great fit.“
Annie’s Books on Peregian will retain its name and remain at 8 Kingfisher Drive, Peregian Village. Phone 5448 2053.
