The archive · Small Business & Money · Strategic decision · 2024–2025
Kate Toon buys a struggling NSW bookshop and lifts revenue 38% in a year
Digital marketer Kate Toon bought a failing local bookshop, rebranded it, rebuilt its online presence and made it a community hub — revenue up 38% in a year.
Umina Beach Book Nook
What it had to solve
In early 2024 Kate Toon bought a struggling bookshop in Umina Beach, NSW. It was poorly stocked, had negative online reviews, an average sale of A$25, and everyone told her bricks-and-mortar shops were dead.
How it works
In early 2024, digital marketing coach Kate Toon bought a struggling bookshop in the small NSW town of Umina Beach — a decision her friends called crazy, since physical bookshops were supposedly a dying industry. A year later revenue was up 38%, the average sale had grown from A$25 to A$44, and the shop had been recognised for its community contribution by the local MP.
Toon's playbook mixed old-fashioned shopkeeping with her own marketing skills: a bright rebrand carried through signage, bags and even receipts; reclaimed directory listings and local SEO brought in customers from across the Central Coast; and a calendar of book clubs, wine nights and themed weekends turned the store into a social destination. She answered every negative review, let dogs in, and made the shop wheelchair- and pram-friendly.
The economics came from product mix and repeat customers rather than discounting. Wider stock, shopping baskets and a 5% loyalty scheme lifted the average transaction, while events and community sponsorships built word of mouth. Toon admits the first financial year barely broke even — but the store survived, and the model is now repeatable.
Her conclusion is blunt: a small bookshop cannot compete with big corporate chains on price, so it has to beat them on creativity, customer service, quirk and community.
Why it lands
- It applies professional marketing skills (branding, SEO, email, ads) to an asset everyone else had written off, turning a cost-heavy shop into a destination.
- The result is concrete and measurable: revenue up 38%, average sale up from A$25 to A$44, customers driving from two hours away.
- It shows a repeatable play for any local shop: community events plus digital acquisition plus a higher-margin product mix.
- The owner's own first-person account names every step, so the idea is easy to copy and adapt.
What it did
Within a year revenue rose 38%, average sale rose from A$25 to A$44, Instagram reels pulled customers from Sydney and Newcastle, and the shop was recognised by the local MP. Toon says she only barely broke even in year one.
What you can take
A small shop can't win on price against chains, so it wins on identity, community and service: make the store worth visiting, raise the average basket, and turn customers into regulars.
Since then
The store kept trading through 2025 as Umina Beach Book Nook, and Toon has used the story in her own teaching and writing about small business. The 38% revenue lift and A$44 average sale are the numbers she reports one year in, alongside the MP recognition.
Sources
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