By Bronwyn Hastings

Horsham’s Redrock Books and Gallery will close its doors at the end of this month, following an unsuccessful 18-month search for a new owner.

Owner Marian Anderson said she tried to sell the business when she made plans for retirement.

“Retiring really started the process a few years ago, but then as it went on, we had COVID, and I thought I’d just keep it going for a bit and see if I could get a buyer. There was a little bit of interest, but nobody’s popped up,” she said.

“I just thought, I can’t wait. I just have to do what I want to do, and that’s retire.”

Mrs Anderson started working casually at Belcourt Books more than 15 years ago, before taking over the business in 2011.

“I was a Saturday person, that’s how it started, I filled in when the manager was away,” she said.

“It was a little bit of a whirlwind, because I thought it was going to close. So I bought it, and added a gallery to it, because I thought there was a space for local art.”

An artist by trade, Mrs Anderson has been part of Art is… festival, and had exhibitions at galleries including Horsham, Hamilton and Ballarat. 

She said getting back into producing prints and etchings was on her ‘retirement to-do list’.

“Travel’s on the list because my daughter is going to Italy for work and I thought, I could go and visit. There’s also renovations, some art projects, concerts, all that sort of thing,” she said.

“Another thing I’m going to do is read the books I’ve collected over the years – I’ve got a lot.”

Mrs Anderson said the gallery would close also – its last exhibition, by Megan Lonsdale, was last week.

“That’s another sad thing, another loss for Horsham – the local art space. But, you know, there are other opportunities in town, including the town hall and the group of artists at the top end of the main street,” she said.

The closing down sale started earlier than Mrs Anderson intended, at the end of last week.

“Stock is all going really quickly, as well as some bookcases and a few tables,” she said.

The final day of trading is November 30, with 40 per cent off all stock until then.

“I’ve had a lot of people come in and say they don’t know how they had time to work because they are so busy in retirement. In the first week or two, I’ll just sit,” Mrs Anderson said.

“I do have lots of things to put on the list, but I have no idea where I’ll start, really.”

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