Bookshop the best
Couple stoked that regions have been duly recognised
We have people . . . tell us it’s the nicest bookshop they’ve ever been in, so it’s nice to have that formally recognised.
For the first time Wardini Books has won the Nielsen Bookshop of the Year 2020 in the Book Trade Industry Awards. It came as a surprise to owners Louise and Gareth Ward, who attended the awards on Wednesday night — this year in the Zoom format we have all become so familiar with.
Sitting in their house, Gareth in pyjamas and Louise on the couch with their dog, the couple said they were “completely stunned and surprised” when their name was called out as the winner.
In previous years bookstores such as Unity Books Auckland and Time Out Bookstore Auckland have taken out the honours, so the couple are stoked that there has been a win in the regions.
“It’s just brilliant that it’s come to the provinces and that we are punching above our weight,” Louise said.
“It’s just lovely that our little bookshops in the Bay have been recognised as the fantastic bookshops they are,” Gareth said.
The bookshops were judged on the criteria of operational excellence, customers and service, their place in the community, the physical shop, commercial sustainability, online presence and their Covid-19 response.
Chris Szekely, Ka Meechan and Rob Kidd judged the awards.
In choosing a winner, the judges were drawn to Wardini because there are “indisputably strong bonds between bookshop team members and their diverse customers with numerous examples of going the extra mile, reaching out and caring for one another, caring for — and within — the community,” Szekely said.
“We have people come in all the time and tell us it’s the nicest bookshop they’ve ever been in, so it’s nice to have that formally recognised,” Gareth said.
The community is an integral part of the two shops and something the owners wanted to ensure they maintained a connection with during lockdown through regular social media updates and emails. The community’s love for the bookshop was obvious when orders flooded in after the online reopening at level 3.
Then when they reopened the physical shops, people came back “almost in tears” with joy that they were able to return to their favourite bookshop.
The independent bookstore first opened in Havelock North about eight years ago, then in Napier about four years ago.
The couple started the bookstore because they wanted to do something together — Louise was in teaching at the time and Gareth was in IT.
They looked at a bookstore which was for sale in Havelock North and were told not to buy it because it was failing.
They wanted to give it a go anyway and rebranded Wardini Books — named after Gareth’s magician alias The Great Wardini.
“We thought this needs to be magical, to be a place where people want to come, where children drag their parents in from the street.
“It’s not just the physical feel of the shop, it’s the smell of it, it’s the welcome that people get when they come in and they feel part of the place,” Louise said.
The two shops now employ seven other staff, all with their own areas of interest, who are a huge part of the business’ success.
Gareth and Louise do all the book buying and often “take a risk” on books that aren’t mass-market new books.
When book hunting, they can often think of a particular customer who would enjoy a book.
The shop has the added special factor that it also sells books by Gareth and children’s books by a staff member, Adele. What makes the shop so special, they feel, is that the shop and all the staff members are “just completely ourselves”.
Gareth Ward