About Mapworld

From Australia’s Largest Chain of Map Shops to Australia’s Largest Online Map Shop

Mapworld has been helping Australians find the right map for more than 30 years.

Long before online shopping became part of everyday life, Mapworld operated Australia’s largest chain of specialist map shops, with stores in:

Sydney
Crows Nest
Canberra
Brisbane
Perth

These were not ordinary bookshops with a small rack of road maps.

They were complete specialist map stores carrying Australian and international maps, topographic sheets, nautical charts, street directories, wall maps, globes, atlases, travel guides, compasses and navigational equipment.

Today, Mapworld has evolved into Australia’s largest online map shop.

The shopfronts have changed, but the purpose of the business has remained the same:

to help every customer find the right map, chart, globe or geographic product for the task at hand.

Explore Mapworld’s complete online range.

Our Origins with Hema Maps

The Mapworld story is closely connected with the history of Hema Maps.

Hema Maps was founded in Brisbane in 1983 by Henry and Margaret Boegheim. The name Hema was created from the first two letters of their names:

HE from Henry
MA from Margaret

As Hema’s range of Australian and international maps grew, Henry and Margaret encountered a problem.

General bookshops and newsagencies could stock a few bestselling atlases, street directories and folded maps, but they could never provide enough shelf space for the complete range Hema wanted to bring to the Australian market.

The solution was to build a dedicated chain of specialist map shops.

That retail chain became Mapworld.

For many years, Mapworld served as the retail arm of Hema Maps, creating a direct connection between map publishing and the customers who used those maps.

Hema developed and distributed the products.

Mapworld placed them in specialist shops where travellers, mariners, teachers, government departments, businesses and outdoor enthusiasts could compare maps and receive informed advice.

This relationship shaped the values Mapworld still holds today:

a broad range matters
specialist knowledge matters
accuracy matters
scale and coverage matter
the right map is more important than simply selling a map

Australia’s National Map-Shop Network

At its height, Mapworld operated specialist stores across several Australian capitals and metropolitan centres.

Sydney

The flagship store at 280 Pitt Street served customers from across New South Wales and Australia.

Its shelves contained:

Australian and international folded maps
topographic mapping
nautical charts
wall maps
globes
atlases
street directories
travel guides
compasses
geographic reference products

The Sydney store became known for handling requests that ordinary retailers could not answer.

Customers did not always arrive with a map title or product number.

They might arrive with:

the name of a remote locality
a planned walking route
a harbour
a country they intended to visit
the dimensions of a classroom wall
a historical research question

The Mapworld team helped turn those incomplete enquiries into the correct products.

Crows Nest

The Mapworld store at 136 Willoughby Road, Crows Nest, brought the same specialist service to Sydney’s North Shore.

It served families, schools, sailors, businesses, travellers and customers seeking large wall maps and globes.

Canberra

Mapworld’s Canberra shop operated from the Jolimont Centre on Northbourne Avenue.

Its location made it especially important to:

Commonwealth government departments
Defence
embassies
international organisations
schools
universities
policy researchers

The store supplied national, international, political, topographic and wall mapping for customers whose needs extended well beyond everyday travel.

Brisbane

The Brisbane and Eight Mile Plains operations were closely connected with Hema’s warehouse and publishing activities.

This allowed the retail and publishing sides of the business to work together closely.

Products could move directly from Hema’s operation into the Mapworld retail network, while customer questions and emerging demand could be communicated back to the publisher.

Perth

In Western Australia, Perth Map Centre formed the foundation of the modern Mapworld business.

For many years, Perth Map Centre operated from 900 Hay Street and served the distinctive mapping needs of a state defined by:

enormous distances
remote mining operations
extensive coastline
offshore navigation
pastoral regions
desert travel
four-wheel-drive exploration

Perth Map Centre later became central to Mapworld’s transition into a national online and print-on-demand specialist.

The O’Keeffe Family and a New Chapter

In 2005, Henry and Margaret Boegheim retired from the Mapworld retail business.

Patrick and Christopher O’Keeffe purchased the Mapworld chain and took responsibility for its next stage.

Christopher O’Keeffe became Managing Director of the east-coast Mapworld stores, while Patrick O’Keeffe continued operating Perth Map Centre in Western Australia.

The O’Keeffe family inherited much more than a group of shopfronts.

They inherited:

specialist staff
national and international suppliers
government and institutional customers
map indexes
nautical-chart systems
topographic-sheet knowledge
decades of customer trust
the Mapworld name

The business continued through a period of extraordinary technological change.

GPS navigation became widespread.

Online shopping transformed retail.

Smartphones placed digital maps in almost every pocket.

Government mapping agencies increasingly replaced printed products with downloadable digital files.

International map publishing and distribution changed dramatically.

Mapworld had to change as well.

From Physical Shops to a National Online Map Store

The transition from physical retail to online retail did not happen because specialist maps were no longer needed.

It happened because the way customers searched for and purchased them had changed.

Operating online allowed Mapworld to make its specialist range available to customers in:

capital cities
regional centres
rural communities
mining towns
remote Australia
overseas locations

A customer no longer needed to live near Pitt Street, Crows Nest, Northbourne Avenue, Brisbane or Hay Street to access a specialist map shop.

The store could now reach the whole country.

Mapworld gradually brought together the experience of the former retail chain and Perth Map Centre within one national online business.

The result is the Mapworld of today:

Australia’s largest online map shop, supported by decades of genuine specialist retail experience.

More Than an Online Catalogue

Mapworld is not a general ecommerce website that happens to list a few maps.

It is the continuation of Australia’s largest specialist map-shop network.

That distinction matters because customers often do not know the exact product they require.

A customer may know:

a destination
a route
a property name
a harbour
a mine site
a national park
a map scale
a postcode region
the dimensions of a wall

Our role is to help translate that information into the correct map, chart or product.

That may involve determining:

the correct topographic sheet
whether adjoining sheets are required
the most appropriate scale
the current map edition
the correct nautical-chart coverage
whether a folded, flat, laminated or waterproof version is best
whether a map should be custom printed
whether the map can be enlarged to suit a wall or frame

A general retailer may be able to sell a map.

A specialist map retailer helps make sure it is the right one.

Australia’s Largest Specialist Map Range

Mapworld brings together one of Australia’s most comprehensive selections of geographic products.

Our principal collections include:

Mapworld also supplies:

road atlases
four-wheel-drive maps
caravan and camping guides
government maps
mining and resource maps
health and administrative maps
educational products
compasses
GPS data
Australian-made flags
fine-art and historical prints

Our Continuing Relationship with Hema Maps

Although Mapworld and Hema Maps became separate businesses in 2005, the connection remains strong.

Hema is one of Australia’s most respected publishers of:

touring maps
four-wheel-drive maps
road atlases
regional maps
state maps
camping guides
adventure-navigation products

Mapworld continues to offer the full Hema range through its dedicated Hema Maps collection.

The relationship remains a natural one.

Hema produces high-quality Australian travel and adventure mapping.

Mapworld provides specialist retail, product advice, national distribution and professional finishing.

Mapworld also produces selected Hema wall-map formats locally, allowing many titles to be supplied in larger paper, laminated, canvas and hang-railed versions.

Read the full story in Mapworld and Hema Maps: A Shared History of Australian Mapping.

Print on Demand: Preserving the Future of Physical Maps

At the time the O’Keeffe family acquired Mapworld, Henry Boegheim was a strong advocate for print-on-demand mapping.

He believed the future of specialist map production would not depend entirely on publishers printing thousands of identical copies and storing them in warehouses.

Instead, maps could be produced:

when they were required
at the size required
on the material required
in quantities suited to actual demand

That vision now forms the backbone of Mapworld’s business.

Many maps that would no longer be commercially viable as large offset-print runs can remain available through professional digital production.

Mapworld’s print-on-demand operation produces:

Australian topographic maps
large wall maps
historical maps
government mapping
nautical charts
custom business maps
GIS output
fine-art prints
aerial imagery
technical plans
custom-sized products

This enables Mapworld to preserve access to specialist and low-volume mapping that might otherwise disappear.

Professional Australian Production

Mapworld operates a specialist large-format print and finishing environment using professional HP technology.

Our production capabilities include:

large-format printing
selected custom sizing
proportional enlargement
professional hot lamination
waterproof printing
canvas production
timber hang rails
short-run production
technical map printing

Depending on the product, maps and prints may be available as:

flat paper
folded paper
laminated
waterproof
canvas
canvas with timber hang rails
laminated with timber hang rails

Our Custom Printing and Laminating service can assist with maps, plans, charts, GIS projects, aerial imagery and oversized documents.

Learn more about our equipment and production standards in Mapworld and HP: The Perfect Partnership.

Who We Serve

Mapworld serves a remarkably diverse customer base.

Our customers include:

families
travellers
caravan and four-wheel-drive enthusiasts
bushwalkers
mariners
schools
universities
libraries
government departments
Defence
police
emergency services
mining companies
logistics businesses
property professionals
healthcare organisations
interior designers
historians
collectors

Some customers need a simple folded road map.

Others need a complete series of topographic sheets, a professionally corrected nautical chart, a large laminated planning map or a custom-sized historical reproduction.

Every enquiry is treated according to its actual purpose.

Maps Still Matter

Digital mapping is an extraordinary tool.

Mapworld uses and supports digital mapping, GPS data and modern navigation systems.

But digital and physical maps serve different purposes.

A digital device provides:

live position
route guidance
search
traffic information
portability

A physical map provides:

a broad overview
stronger spatial awareness
easier group planning
independence from batteries and reception
a permanent reference
a practical backup

For remote travel, fieldwork, maritime use, classrooms, business planning and emergency preparation, physical maps remain highly relevant.

Mapworld’s role is not to resist technological change.

It is to preserve everything physical mapping still does exceptionally well.

Specialist Knowledge in a Changing Industry

Australia has lost many of its traditional specialist map shops.

Government agencies increasingly distribute maps digitally rather than printing and selling paper products directly.

Major publishers have reduced, reorganised or discontinued parts of their printed ranges.

This makes the remaining specialist businesses more important.

Mapworld helps bridge the gap between digital geographic information and a usable physical product.

That may mean:

identifying a government GeoPDF
printing it at its correct scale
producing it on appropriate paper
laminating it
printing it on waterproof material
combining it with adjoining sheets
enlarging it for wall use

A Family-Owned Australian Business

Mapworld remains an Australian family-owned business.

Its development has been shaped by:

Henry and Margaret Boegheim’s original vision
Hema’s publishing and mapping heritage
Patrick and Christopher O’Keeffe’s specialist retail experience
the staff of the former Mapworld shops
the Perth Map Centre team
decades of customer relationships

The business has changed enormously.

What began as a national chain of physical stores has become a specialist ecommerce, production and distribution operation serving customers throughout Australia.

Yet the central principles have remained constant:

offer the broadest practical range
provide informed advice
respect the importance of accuracy
use professional materials and equipment
preserve access to physical maps
treat every map as a working geographic product

Our Commitment

Mapworld’s commitment is simple.

We aim to help every customer find the map that best suits their needs.

That could be:

a road atlas for travelling around Australia
a Hema map for a remote four-wheel-drive journey
a topographic sheet for fieldwork
an official nautical chart
a large map for a classroom
a postcode map for sales planning
a historical map for a family home
a world map for a boardroom
a custom print for a government or commercial project

We believe maps remain essential tools for:

understanding place
planning journeys
navigating safely
teaching geography
managing operations
recording history
seeing the bigger picture

From Australia’s largest chain of physical map shops to Australia’s largest online map shop, Mapworld has continued to adapt without abandoning the specialist knowledge on which the business was built.

The stores may no longer stand on Pitt Street, Willoughby Road, Northbourne Avenue, Logan Road or Hay Street.

But the experience created in those stores remains part of every product we supply.

Mapworld has moved online. The map shop is still here.