End of an era for second-hand book shop

Owner Sharin Denfield in Tauranga Book Exchange which is closing down after many years in business. Photo/George Novak

The boom in charity fundraising book sales has killed off the last book exchange on the city side of Tauranga Harbour.

Tauranga Book Exchange closes its doors on January 21 after a long struggle by owner Sharon Denfield to keep trading.

"It's the end of an era."

Where once there were four second-hand book shops trading in the city and Greerton, the focus has shifted to Mount Maunganui and Papamoa where Old Grumpy's and two book exchanges, Mount Bookworm and Xanadu, were left flying the flag.

Mrs Denfield has fond memories of Tauranga Book Exchange stretching back to her teenage years in the late 1970s.

When the business came on the market four years ago, she took the plunge but did not count on an explosion in the number of charity book sales impacting on book-buying habits.

Sad fate for old business. The Tauranga Book Exchange is closing on January 21. Photo/George Novak

Contrary to what many people assumed, rent had not been a factor in trying to make ends meet. The shift up Cameron Rd two years ago to the new premises opposite the fire station did not increase her very reasonable rent.

Mrs Denfield said that what killed her business were people stocking up on their reading at charity books sales which had jumped from two a few years ago to nine nowadays.

"Everyone has jumped on the bandwagon."

She said it was nice that charities benefited from the book sales, but it was money not going through her shop.

The council's decision to allow all-day paid parking, replacing the two-hour time limit, had not helped. "It's nice that students have close parking, they only have to feed the meter."

Neither did she blame pop-up second-hand book shops or e-readers. Although there had been an impact when e-readers were the latest toy, print books sales had remained strong.

"We are a tactile bunch, it's not as if people are reading fewer books ... books are like friends."

She did not even consider books for sale in op shops or online listings as big factors behind the decline of her business. Online shopping required postage and descriptions could be quite different to what arrived in the mail.

Mrs Denfield tried without success to sell the business through Trade Me and at one point was offered $5000 for her stock, conservatively valued at $40,000. She decided she would be better off taking the books home and selling them online.

What she will miss was the daily contact with customers. "The thing about a small business like this is that you get to chat to customers, you get to know them."

And although Mrs Denfield wasn't keeping in the best of health, the reality was that if she had been trading profitably, she said she would have hired a part-timer to help out.

In the meantime, bargains aplenty were available during her last fortnight of trading. Books were half-price and she was negotiable on magazines. The shop is open six days a week.