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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Emma Joyce

Bookshops offer much more than just retail – but who would open one in this economy?

Stephanie Beck and Mischa Parkee, co-owners of The Rose and Read Bookshop Sydney’s Summer Hill.
‘I thought, this is not a money-making venture’: Stephanie Beck and Mischa Parkee, co-owners of The Rose Read Bookshop in Sydney’s Summer Hill. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

Stephanie Beck and Mischa Parkee bonded over their love of reading when they were teenagers, joking that one day they’d open their own bookshop. Now, despite both 31-year-olds having full-time teaching jobs, they’ve fulfilled their dream, opening an art deco corner store in Sydney’s Summer Hill called The Rose Read Bookshop.

When Beck’s mother died last year, she was left with an inheritance, which she used to invest in the shop. “I thought, this is not a money-making venture,” but it felt like a “meaningful way” to use it, she says.

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