Brotherhood launches new social enterprise: Second Edition café and recycled bookstore in Malvern

13 July 2010

Victoria’s most enterprising not-for-profit organisation, the Brotherhood of St Laurence, proudly launches Second Edition – a café bookshop concept store on the popular Glenferrie Road, Malvern, café strip.

Aiming to broaden the commercial appeal of the Brotherhood’s social enterprises, Melbourne’s café culture provides a great opportunity to generate funds in support of disadvantaged families. The Second Edition concept store also provides a platform to extend the Brotherhood’s employment and training programs to include retail and hospitality skills courses.

‘We’re incredibly proud of our first Second Edition store, it’s a perfect fit with the Brotherhood’s mission of building better lives – in both the traineeships the venue provides, as well as the educational/literary focus of the product’, explained Jeff Moon, General Manager Social Enterprise, Brotherhood of St Laurence.

‘Knowledge is one of the most critical factors in individuals being able to make change.’

The café component is new territory for the Brotherhood, and the goal is simple – to bring a great cup of coffee to Glenferrie Road, and one where the social conscience behind the product goes well beyond the Fairtrade beans. The profits from each cup of coffee and book sold go towards supporting disadvantaged children and families assisted by the Brotherhood.

The recycled bookshop also acts as a retail front for another of the Brotherhood’s social enterprises, Brotherhood Books – an online secondhand bookstore. Second Edition represents a positive first step towards greater integration between our various social enterprises.

As a social enterprise, Second Edition also has an employment and training aspect. It offers a minimum of four traineeships in retail and hospitality per year to job seekers looking to gain skills in these areas. Trainees are sourced by the Brotherhood from the long-term unemployed and the unskilled labour market.

Browse the shelves at Second Edition while sipping on Malvern’s best coffee, and you’ll find high quality recycled books all sourced from generous public donations. All the genres you would find at a typical bookshop are covered, plus more than a few gems from years gone by. There’s also a treasure trove of vintage magazine collections and records. New stock is added to the shelves on a daily basis.

All café items are Fairtrade and where possible, sourced from other social enterprises, including Abbotsford Biscuits, a social enterprise of the Jesuit Social Services.

The books at Second Edition are in near-new condition, with prices ranging from $2.50 for paperback novels and children’s books and up to $80 for rare hardback coffee table books. We also provide three instore computer terminals where you can search the entire Brotherhood Books online catalogue and choose to have your book delivered to the store or right to your door.

The interior of Second Edition is contemporary and warm with wood panelling, featuring an interactive illustrated graphics wall where little ones can play. The other notable interior feature is the ‘Tree of Knowledge’ in the centre of the store, aptly displaying some of the unique books available at the store. Second Edition is barely recognisable as the Brotherhood’s former Malvern Community Store, courtesy of the interior design and fit-out by renowned Melbourne designers, DEA.

Second Edition is located at 215 Glenferrie Road, Malvern. Trading hours are Monday to Friday 7:30 am to 6 pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm. Phone (03) 9509 5241. Donations of good quality books always welcome!

For further information, photographs or interviews, please contact Gun Communications on
(03) 9376 7320:

Georgie Frew 0432 010 590 georgie@guncommunications.com
Sarah Sproule 0418 737 500 sarah@guncommunications.com

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