Perth Voice Interactive

Sammut clears shelves of a quarter-century in books

With the bulldozer looming in the background, Vincent Sammut’s having to pack up his North Perth bookshop—and around 50,000 books.

Formerly a graphic designer he got out of that game when told he was overqualified: “That’s code for ‘you’ve passed a certain age’,” he says.

For 15 years he’s operated Books Etcetera on Fitzgerald Street, and for five years before that he was over on Beaufort.

The 75-year-old is known among locals for long chats amidst his piles of books. Short sorties into the store can turn into long discussions about anything from the Middle-East to heritage protection.

Mr Sammut tried to sell the business for two years but wasn’t able to find a buyer. Now the landlord—who he’s on good terms with—has plans to redevelop the site and he’s moving on.

“That put the kybosh on selling the business,” he says.

“I tried to sell the stock but I was unsuccessful mainly because I couldn’t find a serious buyer.

“Now time’s virtually run out… I have to be out of here by the end of January but I will have to close the doors before that to allow me to do some concentrated packing.”

He’s hoping a sale will help clear stock, but with so many books to pack up it’s a big job ahead of him, and he’ll have to move house to fit them all in.

“I’ll probably have to move to the hills, sell up my home in Leederville and buy up a very large premises. I’ll have to build a very large shed, as large as the council will let me, to keep the books and to give me a studio.

“Like a lot of guys I want a nice workshop,” the painter says. “I’d love to have a workshop for all those nails and screws and bolts and paints.”

‘I love when parents bring their children in, they’re the most delightful people.’

Mr Sammut is originally from New York City but he met a Perth girl and she convinced him to move here.

“She put the screws on me,” he chuckles. “She said I’m going back to Perth, if you don’t come with me, too bad.”

In Australia for 47 years now, he says “it’s home”. He’s only been back to New York “three times, maybe four”.

But he kept the spirit of New York bookstores alive in his cluttered North Perth shop. The shops in New York are like catacombs, he says, and Mr Sammut’s own place is famous for being stuffed to the brim: When a shelf fills up, Mr Sammut stacks books on top. When he can’t fit any more in that way, he’ll use a sturdy book as a cantilever sticking out of the shelf and start stacking on top of that.

“I’ve had paperbacks stacked three deep and two metres high.

“No-one’s ever been injured in the shop, but certainly stacks of books have fallen over. I’ve had so many books fall over that it would take a minimum of two hours to put back, maybe three.”

Occasionally parents fret about their children running around the store, worried they’ll knock something over, but Mr Sammut’s never been fussed.

“I’m not worried about that: You can always put them back. I love when parents bring their children in, they’re the most delightful people.”

Mr Sammut sighs sales have been dwindling over the years as people read less and turn to media that doesn’t make them think so hard.

Foot traffic is also quiet in that patch of Fitzgerald Street.

He says he looks forward to spending more time painting, but admits he will miss life as a book shop owner.

“In a way I’m sorry to give up the shop, because I’ve learned so much from dealing with people, and I’ve had a lot of social life and a tremendous number of conversations with my customers, some of whom were very interesting themselves and have been very instructive.

“There’s something about a book shop that lends itself to intimacy.

“I’ll miss that. I’ll miss the human contact.”

by DAVID BELL