Lorraine and her husband Neil are closing their store, Spectrum Books and Print Solutions, on Raglan Parade.

Mr Smith was running a printing company when Ms Smith attended auctions buying boxes of books.

"I was feeling nostalgic from wanting these books that I used to read as a child," she said.

Both now in their mid-60s, the pair are heading into retirement, making a move to Portarlington on the Bellarine Peninsula.

"We'll start travelling again when we can overseas and in Australia which we couldn't do because of the pandemic," Ms Smith said. "We'll just kick back for a while, it's pretty hectic.

"We've been working six days a week for ages - when you've got your own business you've got to put the effort in. We survived all through COVID fine, but now we're thinking that it's time to move on before we get too much older."

They said the most popular genres among customers were fantasy, true crime and crime, Australian outback series and Australian history, the classics, cookery, gardening, art and reference books.

Ms Smith said the reading habits of customers had not changed much.

"We see people that like a real book, the feel and smell of the book," she said.

"We saw an effect when Kindles came in and when people started buying books online."

Visitors to the store over the years would have met the Smith's three pets named after literary greats: two cats - Austen (named after Jane Austen) and Sawyer (Tom Sawyer), and a dog - Lawson (Henry Lawson).

The couple said the relationships and friendships formed with customers was the highlight of their career and what they would miss most.

They have run their service at several locations, including near Woolworths and across from the Warrnambool Railway Station.

At the current location on Raglan Parade which they've been at for 21 years, the couple took over the hair salon next door in 2019, which was turned into a children's section.

In November 2013, Ms Smith purchased some books from The Salvation Army.

Two months later, a customer opened the book and a document was discovered between the pages dating back to 1583.

The store closes on April 2, with all stock being sold off.

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