Springwood Book Lounge's Siobhan O'Connor wants to remind her customers that she is just a phone call or social media message away.
She shut the doors of her books, puzzles and games store on Monday [March 30] after the government announcement of the latest series of non-essential shutdowns.
During the Christmas bushfires business fell by 40 per cent, but she said the day before she closed the shop she only sold one book in store. "It's gone down to zero. People naturally had their minds on other things."
Ms O'Connor however does have about 30 puzzles and 100 board games on site that can get parents out of a tight learning spot at home, and will be adding to stock along the way. And she's happy to post them out.
"My suppliers are still taking orders. When the libraries shut I did notice people coming in for children's books and games and puzzles.
"They [games] help with resilience. Even though they are fun, they have a kind of educational value and help with concentration and co-operating, improving lateral thinking, learning you don't always win. But at heart it's still fun. In lots of ways they are a better babysitter than sitting children in front of the TV."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared his wife Jenny and daughters had made an essential run to get jigsaws and puzzles to see them through self isolation recently and Ms O'Connor said there has been more interest in these items locally and further afield.
"There has been an upswing [in games sales]. I hope it continues and is enough to get me through, to pay the bills. I'm extremely fortunate because games and books don't have a use-by date, and I really feel for the cafes that have all those perishables and for the businesses that rely on person-to-person contact."
She said there might be "something" in the government stimulus package for her "but because I am a sole trader I am not sure what that is".
The book store owner is putting the final touches on her official online shop at www.rabbitholebooks.com.au and hopes it will be operational this week. In the meantime customers can email her at shop@springwoodbooklounge.com.au
She said when the pandemic first hit about half the book orders were for happy titles and the other half was much more grim - "one extreme to the other". And then she sold her last five copies of the board game Pandemic.
"I've decided Australians have a very black sense of humour," she said laughing.
Her book store window has tried to reflect the times with titles like I've Got a Bad Feeling About This (a Star Wars game), Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Eric Idle's Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
