When we signed our lease at 2/6 Workspace Drive we intended to call it home for the next three years — but our growth during our first nine months has exceeded expectations — and it’s time to move. By this time next week we’ll be operating from our new and larger warehouse just around corner in Hobsonville— and we can’t wait to share it with you.
We started Book Hero with a clear vision — to build the best online bookstore for New Zealanders, and to help more Kiwis rediscover a love for books and reading. During our first nine months, feedback from customers has been clear — in an age where books seem to take forever to arrive from overseas, they love Book Hero’s fast overnight delivery and good old fashion customer service. Our new warehouse allows us to significantly grow our range beyond the 30,000 books we currently hold in-stock, enabling us to deliver more of the reliable delivery experience our customers are asking for.
Gosh what insanely awesome service. I ordered my books and they were delivered the. next. day. For context I’m in Wanaka and usually packages take at least a week to get here even from Auckland. I will absolutely be a repeat customer. My local bookshops were all sold out and these guys were true to their name — heroes!
I ordered a book that I couldn’t find in store at three large book shops in Dunedin. Book Hero had it in stock, ready to ship from Auckland. Often I expect shipping from Auckland to Dunedin to be delivered within a working week- Book Hero had it to my mailbox within 2 working days! Great selection and great fast service! Love and agree with their mission, you can’t beat a real book. Thanks Book Hero!
Amazing! I discovered them 18 days ago and just placed my fourth order 😅 great service, orders are processed quickly and sent via NZ Post so usually arrive overnight, quick response to emails and instagram messages, great prices. Easy 5 stars.
Reflecting back on the decision a year ago to sign the lease on our first 200m2 warehouse, I remember the fear and anxiety. A three year commitment to the landlord, the capital outlay of buying shelving and computer systems, the uncertainty of what books to hold in-stock and how many to buy — having never done this before. Facing these fears without any customers to speak of and a weak economic outlook was tough and there were many days and weeks my head was full of doubt and I probably wasn’t much fun to be around. Our hunch at the time was stepping forward with stock and service, during a time where everyone else was pulling back, would be the right move — sadly we had our fair share of detractors, but we’ll never forget those who have bravely supported us from the beginning.
It didn’t take long to fill up our empty warehouse with shelving and books! We’re going to have to dismantle our built-in furniture…
As we prepare less than a year later to move our 30,000 books into a new location I feel 80% excited and 20% terrified — which is probably a pretty healthy ratio. If the outcome was certain it wouldn’t be an adventure — and an adventure is what myself, Tim, Al and everyone on the team is looking for. We jump out of bed in the morning and race to work because there is so much undone and so much opportunity to realise. We are plotting our own course and marching to the beat of our own drum. We are moving fast and figuring things out as we go. We have a growing base of happy customers and the Google reviews and positive feedback we receive every day fuel us and keep us going. We’ve given customers a taste and we want to step it up another level — more books, a broader range, a better service. We want to grow the New Zealand market and make buying books online a joy and a pleasure again.
I have a lot of fond memories in Workspace Drive — my cat Evie coming with me to work, selling our first book (The Hobbit) and working with Al and Tim to hack together our systems and operations on a shoe-string budget — special memories.
The belief and the decision of our 20,000 customers to buy from Book Hero is the only reason we’re in the position today to make the investment into a larger space. Every order placed on Book Hero is a vote toward a locally owned online bookstore focused on growing the book market in New Zealand. Thank you so much for believing in us and supporting our vision to hold a broader range in-stock. We’re sad to say goodbye to our cute little warehouse in Workspace Drive and the place we’ve called home for 9 months — but we’re even more excited for the future.
It didn’t take long for things to get very busy and space to become very tight — and we loved every minute of it.
Stay tuned next week as we introduce you to our new home which we will fit out over the next few weeks in the lead-up to what will certainly be a hectic but fun-filled Christmas period.
Thank you as always for supporting us ❤️
Alastair planning out the details of his new warehose. Stay tuned next week as we begin writing our next chapter…
4 comments
So stoked for you guys! It’s amazing to see how well you’ve been doing, and I think that’s no accident. You’ve all worked so hard and the effort you put into making sure we can get the books we want, even if it has to be specially ordered, just means we keep coming back. Congrats and good luck!
Well done! You deserve the praise heaped upon you because you really care about your customers and serving them comes first in your world.
Not at all surprised you have to move “onward and upwards”.
Exciting times for you putting the fun into business!
Alan
Good on ya fellas!!! Love the Kiwi attitude you have and the way you’ve promoted your fledgling business. No doubt in my mind of you going from strength to strength!
Very excited for you all, what a terrific team and great service you’re providing kiwi readers ☺️