EDIT: As you can see from the response, the owner offered me a full refund. I was definitely not expecting a full refund, and I think that warrants a 5-star review.

Whilst I was very impressed by the selection and display of books here, I had an experience recently that I think could have been avoided. I visited the kids section and found a nice pop-up peekaboo book about the ocean that I wanted to buy for my toddler. There were only one of each copy out on the shelves and a sign said clearly “If you can’t find one, ask the staff for a sealed copy in the back” because id assume the ones on display was for people to look through. Two younger staff members were working on the display in the kids section so I approached them and asked if I could get a sealed copy. One of them - the girl - tried to convince me the sign only applied to ONE of the like 6 different pop-up books on display, although the sign clearly said “BOOKS” in plural, and referred to the different pop-up books below. The other one - the young man - literally took two seconds to pretend to check their computer for it and then proceeded to say something like “we used to have sealed copies but not anymore” and that the copy out is their only one. “But you can buy that one if you like of course”. Then they went swiftly back to whatever they were doing. I had a quick look-through and the book seemed fine. I bought it and left Victoria. I now realize there’s some gross smudge-marks on one of the pop-ups (likely a kid that would have looked through it with greasy fingers and touched the pop-up art). I’m no longer in Victoria to return it. I’m really disappointed because I could have ordered it online for the same price (the idea crossed my mind) and been guaranteed a sealed copy but I decided to support a book store instead (as we all should!). I think there should be clear stickers on “the only copy that is on display” that it’s a display only and they shouldn’t sell books that have been ruined by other customers. Also have a feeling the two staff really didn’t want to go fetch a sealed copy because they both seemed to want to divert me somehow.