Coventry Bookstore occupies a small shopfront at 265 Coventry Street in South Melbourne, within walking distance of South Melbourne Market. The shop is owned and run by Stephen Hepburn, who is known locally for engaging customers in conversation about their reading habits before suggesting titles suited to their taste. Rather than stocking mass-market bestsellers in bulk, Coventry Bookstore keeps a reasonable selection across most genres, with cookbooks, design titles, travel writing, biography and fiction packed onto compact shelving and stacked on tables throughout the store. A separate room at the back of the shop is set aside for children's books, decorated with brighter colours than the rest of the space. Music plays softly while customers browse, and the shop has been described by visitors as an unhurried place with the old-book smell associated with long-running independent bookshops. Coventry Bookstore is a member of the Australian Booksellers Association's Love Your Bookshop network and accepts both ABA Book Gift Cards and Australian Book Vouchers in-store and online. It trades seven days a week, with shorter hours on Sunday than during the working week, and can be reached by phone or email for stock enquiries and special orders.