Fifteen years later, the couple and their two daughters, Georgia and Chelsea, have kept the business thriving.
Helen said it was the “right place, right time” for the couple. She was looking to re-enter the workforce after staying home with the kids and Joe was after a change in career from his time at VicRoads.
“We saw the ad in the paper and thought ‘well, we can do this’,” she said.
They have been stocking the shelves ever since.
Helen said as with any small business there were learning curves when they took over, but with some help from the previous owners, they rose to the challenges.
“It’s your business, it’s your livelihood,” she said.
Over the years, Helen and Joe’s dedication to their business and the local community has been recognised.
In 2008 and 2012, they were awarded franchise of the year at the national Collins conference. In 2018, they took home an award for marketing and the community involvement award.
“It’s in your best interest to find out as much as you can and work as hard as you can to get it running properly,” Helen said.
When visiting Collins Booksellers, chances are Joe or Helen will greet you in the store. Along with Suellen Armstrong and junior Lilia Tennant (with some help from Georgia and Chelsea), the team can answer all your reading needs.
“I think it’s given the girls a good grounding, and we absolutely couldn’t have done it without them,” Helen said.
“Family and community, there’s nothing better.”
A family of big readers, the Sofras built a reputation among regular customers for their ability to recommend all types of books.
Long-time customer Debbie Hollingworth said the couple could find a book to suit anyone's interests.
“It’s just that familiarity,” she said.
“They just know me and that’s why I like it.”
Known as “the book aunt” to her nieces and nephews, Debbie said she always went to Helen and Joe at Collins Booksellers to find books to give as presents.
“If I wanted to get a book for someone, I’d tell them the genre and they’d say ‘oh, this is a good book’,” she said.
“I just hope they keep going; what would we do without our bookshop?”
The bookshop’s regular customer base has only grown since Helen and Joe took over the store. Helen said the familiar faces were an immense support as the business evolved.
“We’ve got some fantastic regular customers that have supported us from day one,” she said.
“We know them by name, we know what they like, and we know what books they look forward to.”
The shift to online has been the biggest change the business has seen. When the Sofras began, print was still the main form for novels. Now, they stock audiobooks, e-books and hardcopies alike.
“It’s gone from newspaper advertising and catalogue drops and things like that to so much more on social media these days,” Helen said.
“E-books and e-readers weren’t even a thing when we first purchased the business.”
Like all small business owners, the Sofras were handed a bigger challenge than they signed up for 15 years ago when coronavirus restrictions came into place.
But Helen said she and Joe were “re-energised”.
“Every time you face a big challenge in business you sort of get a new lease on life,” she said.
“You just sort of think, ‘this hasn’t beaten us, let’s get into it’.”
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