Bees and books and business in Westbury

Seven Bees Books opened its doors just before Christmas last year, and some locals have already made it clear they consider it long overdue!

Owner Melissa Taylor didn’t set out to open a bookshop. During covid, she ran a mixed stall at local markets and noticed that the books kept walking out the door. One thing led to another, an online shop launched in 2024, and then came the pop-up shopfront in Westbury. “So many people come in and say, ‘I’m so excited there’s a bookshop in Westbury,'” she says. One regular has told her he no longer needs to make the trip to Launceston for his reading fix.

The name Seven Bees Books turns out to have a rather personal origin. Melissa is a Greek word meaning honeybee, so a connection to bees was always appealing. But the fuller story comes from Manchester, England, where Melissa and her partner (both Australians) met while living abroad. The bee is the symbol of Manchester, appearing on the city’s coat of arms with seven bees spread across a globe, representing the shipping of goods to every corner of the world. It’s a name that carries geography, personal history and a touch of romance all at once.

The shop specialises in pre-loved fiction and non-fiction for both adults and children. Crime and mystery titles are consistent performers, as are children’s picture books. Melissa admits the genre that sells best can shift in ways she can’t always explain, but she’s learned to expect the unexpected. An older woman once came in for a gory Stephen King novel to read over the weekend. On another occasion, a man spotted The Cat in the Hat and raced to grab it, not for reading, but because he wanted one of the illustrations for his next tattoo. 

“The unpredictability of who buys what kind of books” is one of Melissa’s favourite things about the venture, she says. Another is the moment a customer finds a book from their childhood, a Hairy Maclary or a Milly Molly Mandy, and lights up with recognition.

Tasmanian authors are well represented on the shelves. The local fiction scene is prolific right now, and those books tend to move quickly. She also stocks new copies of Faeries of Tasmania Volumes I and II by Westbury’s own Terry Whidborne.

The market stall is still a regular fixture, with Melissa attending both the Westbury and Deloraine markets. Market shoppers aren’t necessarily hunting for a book, however those who walk through the shop door almost always are. Many of the people who find Seven Bees Books at markets then make their way into the shop to see the full range. 

The biggest challenge? Books coming in faster than they go out. The spare room at Melissa’s home can occasionally feel the strain.

As for the future, Melissa is keeping it simple. She wants to keep building a bookshop that serves locals and visitors alike, and to share as many books as she can.

For anyone looking for a personal recommendation, Melissa has been recommending The Wind in the Willows. She read it for the first time this year and found it cosy and adventurous, with what Melissa calls a good dash of escapism. Sounds pretty good to me.