Frankton bookshop becomes reality
by Guy Williams · Otago Daily Times Online NewsA new bookshop at Frankton’s Country Lane is a safe place for ‘‘nerds and geeks’’, its owners say.
Only months after moving to Queenstown from their native Australia, Kody and Bee McDonald have opened Tomodachi Bookshop in one of the artisan village’s relocated cabins.
Unsurprisingly, the couple are prolific readers who’re keen to share their enthusiasm for books of all genres, but especially fantasy, romantasy, manga (Japanese graphic novels), kids’ books, and any books that ‘‘stoke curiosity and the imagination’’, Kody says.
The longtime Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) player also has ideas of making it an evening venue for D&D and other tabletop games, especially for first-timers.
‘‘One thing I’ve noticed is there are so many closet nerds who don’t want to walk around and say ‘I play tabletop games, I love D&D’.
‘‘So this can be a safe space for nerds and geeks.’’
The couple have long dreamed of owning a bookshop, but always in a ‘‘one day when we’re older’’ way, he says.
However, destiny’s wheels were set in motion after they visited Country Lane soon after arriving in the resort in October.
First, Bee got a job as a barista at Black Lab Coffee, the cafe and roastery their bookshop is now across the lane from.
Then Country Lane’s owners told her they were keen to have a bookshop in the village’s vacant cabin.
Bee says she initially discounted the idea, but the couple decided to take a look at the space anyway.
They spent a weekend thinking it over, and decided to go for it, Kody says.
‘‘Then we had a fantastic series of events and conversations with the right people, where it just went like dominoes.
‘‘Within six weeks we were opening the doors.’’
The well-travelled couple have lived in several countries, and want Tomodachi (Japanese for ‘friend’) to be like the many bookshops they’ve discovered and frequented over the years.