Fresh off the back of our Christmas Bookshop Day (only our second ever in-person event) it’s fair to say it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at Book Hero HQ.
I always get super nervous about events - is anyone actually going to show up? Friends and family offer to pop in, and it’s this funny double-edged sword: on one hand you want them there to help boost the numbers, but on the other…you really don’t want them to witness the whole thing flop. I’m sure all small business owners can relate to this conundrum!
We loved seeing so many people come and visit!
Thankfully our Christmas Bookshop Day yesterday was a huge success, and we welcomed hundreds of children and their families into Book Hero for a day full of storytime readings, arts and crafts, live musical performances, delicious coffee and hot chocolates, plus of course thousands of wonderful books and puzzles with free gift wrap ready to be put under the tree for Christmas Day.
From my perspective, it was wonderful to see the team come together to create something special in the middle of an already busy Black Friday week - all while shipping well over 1,000 books a day to customers up and down the country. I mentioned to Tim and Alastair yesterday that it genuinely felt like we were running three different businesses under one roof - a bookshop buzzing with happy in-person customers, a warehouse in full swing with the team zipping up and down on wave pickers as new stock arrived and online orders went out, and upstairs a room full of kids crafting, listening to local authors, and being encouraged to dream big. It felt like a real business - and it was cool to step back for a moment and see the whole team, and the whole place, so happy, full of energy and thriving.
What an incredible day!
A self-diagnosed Christmas lover, Tim’s wife Sacha was without a doubt the driving force behind our Christmas Bookshop Day. From designing the promotional material and supporting our local authors with their event setups, to buying decorations, merchandising the store, and dreaming up all the magical touches for the kids - the colouring competitions, letters to Santa, and so much more - she thought of everything. Sacha is endlessly generous with her time and her love of Christmas, and she brings that spirit not only to Book Hero, but to all the customers and families who choose to spend their time with us. Thank you, Sacha!
Highlights of the day included a beautiful storytime reading of Poppa’s Workshop by Chelsea Cresswell - a session absolutely packed with little ones hanging on her every word and soaking up the magic of Christmas. Local Hobsonville resident and New York Times Award-Winning Author Graci Kim delivered an incredible interactive workshop for Dreamslinger, where she inspired young heroes to dream boldly, embrace their creativity, and believe in the power of their own stories. Graci’s presentation was accompanied by a live performance by Bridges, and honestly, you could have heard a pin drop. It was phenomenal - one of those rare, special moments none of us will ever forget.
It was also incredibly moving to meet customers who had driven more than two hours just to attend - not to mention fans who just happened to be visiting from Japan, and one proud dad who flew up from Christchurch especially for the weekend. Hosting such a magical event, and hosting two treasured local authors was an honour. Thank you Graci and Chelsea.
We know that the next four weeks in the lead-up to Christmas are going to be busy and stressful - but for us, this is what it’s all about. Book Hero is as much about the service we provide as the products we sell - it’s about being a trusted overnight delivery service for books and products that inspire and bring joy. We’ve spent the entire year preparing for December, from moving to a bigger warehouse and filling it with books, visiting Holdson and adding a huge range of puzzles, to growing our warehouse team and optimising our fulfilment processes to ensure we continue to meet our overnight delivery promise as our order volumes climb. It’s rewarding to see the results of our earlier decisions start to play out - and we’re committed to pushing right up until Christmas Eve to ensure we help make Christmas magical and stress-free for as many customers as possible.
We loved visiting Holdson!
It's getting busy in our warehouse
If I'm nervous about one thing - it's that it only took 4 months into the lease of our new warehouse before we temporarily converted our lunchroom into a space to support more stock - a feet that took at least 9 months in warehouse 1.0...
Thank you for continuing to support us. It goes without saying that without our amazing customers, we wouldn’t have a business - but we also wouldn’t be having this much fun, and we wouldn’t be making the difference we’re all so proud of. We’re working hard, and we’re genuinely enjoying every moment of it. Thank you for being part of our journey.
1 comment
Thanks to all the staff for their friendly manner on Saturday. They all went the extra mile. It was exciting to see all the wonderful books and toys. It really made it difficult for all those who made the effort to come. Yes, How can you resist all those things!