Barry's Bookshop in Fyshwick will shut by the end of the year

Trish Canty, owner of the Fyshwick bookshop, said she was planning to close the store, which opened in 2009, by the end of the year.

To help reduce stock levels she has placed a 20 per cent discount on all items.

She and her husband Barry Canty ran Canty's Books from 1992 to 2007, when they sold it to their son Luke.

After a contractual non-competition period, they opened Barry's Bookshop in 2009 in the same plaza as Canty's, where other bookstores, now gone, were also located.

While there was competition between the two generations of Cantys - as well as other bookshops - it was of a collegial rather than cut-throat kind and they amicably remained their son's landlords.

"The business has changed," Trish Canty, whose husband died in 2019, said.

There aren't as many remaindered books on offer as there used to be.

Gone are the days of gaining stock through regular overseas trips and visits from publisher's reps.

And the original Canty's once had branches in Manuka, Tuggeranong and Phillip.

Although dozens of competitors have closed in the last couple of decades, the number of customers has also shrunk, Canty said.

Online shopping and the Kindle reduced book sales and so did COVID-19.

"It hurt," Canty said of the pandemic. "People have not come back - hundreds of customers."

Some genres have remained popular - including crime fiction and classics, the latter especially among university students who have been assigned them.

Recently there's been a surge of interest in books on Russia, given the political turmoil.

One customer she remembered from recent times was the shadow minister for climate change and energy, Chris Bowen. People from embassies have also been regulars.

Canty must vacate the unit she is in by June 14 for its new owner.

She will have to move the remaining stock into the other two units she owns until the time comes to close for good.

"I think I'm going to miss it," Canty said of bookselling. "I'm about to turn 76 - it's just too hard."

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After closing the shop, Canty will retire to Warrnambool in Victoria to be near her daughter.

But once a booklover, always a booklover: she said she would take a "truckload" of books with her.

Among them will be biographies, a favourite genre, and books to reread including Patrick White's oeuvre.

Luke Canty said his mother had worked hard for a long time and had earned time off. "Tell people to get in early before the best stuff goes," he said.

Although space restrictions meant he would not be able to buy much of her remaining stock, he would continue to help his mother with the more physical work such as moving boxes.

While Barry's Bookshop will close soon, Canty's will remain open, ensuring the name long associated with books in Canberra endures.