Booked solid with a big career change
DESPITE growing up the son of a bookseller, Steve Laurence never planned on a career in the book trade. But after years in financial services sector in New Zealand and across the Tasman, that’s exactly where he’s ended up, and he’s enjoying it.
Laurence runs Almo’s Books in Carterton. He set the business up more than six years ago after moving from Wellington, although at that stage a bookshop wasn’t on the radar.
‘‘No, we just really wanted a lifestyle change, he says. ‘‘And also in my late 50s I didn’t really want another job – plus I wasn’t sure I’d get one – and my sister Sue was shifting here as well. So I said to her one day that we should start a bookshop.’’
Laurence had left retail behind, and had been working as a client advisor for the Medical Assurance Industry, before the family moved to Australia.
‘‘I was doing mortgage lending there – what the Australians call mortgage origination,’’ he explains. ‘‘Then when we came back, in 2007, I set up the same thing here.’’
But not for long – with the global financial crisis unfolding, Laurence sensed his business model might not ride out the storm, so went back to his old job for 18 months, before heading north over the Rimutakas.
While he’s taken a leaf or two out of his father’s business, Laurence says there’s a fundamental difference.
‘‘Dad’s shop was called The Gift Centre,’’ he says. ‘‘He was effectively a news agent with magazines, stationery, gifts, books and cards – we do basically books, greeting cards plus a small range of gifts and toys.’’
Knowing what’s going to sell and what might sit on the shelves is a matter of listening, Laurence says.
‘‘We’re guided to a large extent by the publishers’ representatives who call, and since they’ve mostly been calling here for a while, they know the sort of books we’re likely to want. And over the period we’ve been here, we’ve come to understand what people will buy from us and where our points of difference are.’’
One of those points is the changing nature of the clientele.
Carterton’s on the move, Laurence points out.
‘‘It’s different from most small towns in that it’s going gangbusters – there’s building everywhere and the population’s growing, and the nature of the population is changing as well.’’
More and more people are moving into the area, attracted no doubt by the affordability of housing and the rail link to the capital.
‘‘A big chunk of the demographic is people who don’t have to work any more for whatever reason or are able to work anywhere,’’ Laurence says.
‘‘So what’s happening residentially in the town is quite encouraging although we need a bit more retail here to make it worthwhile for people to come shopping. We are open 7 days a week and, while we do see lots of Wellingtonians at weekends with a bit more life in town we would do better.’’
A problem common to many smaller towns is the condition of the retail real estate. There are a number of buildings along the main street – State Highway 2 – that, Laurence says, are well below earthquake code minimums, and he’s helped set up a group of business people to look at options.
‘‘There will have to be some investment in small towns everywhere, because they face the same problems,’’ he says.
‘‘Insurance companies won’t insure anything that doesn’t come up to a certain level, and if you can’t get insurance no one will lend on the buildings so you can’t finance business into them. And that’s a big problem – some towns could just fade away.’’ But not Carterton, he says. ‘‘No, Carterton has a chance for rejuvenation because there is a lot more growth here.’’
That’s good news for the town’s readers, who have surprised Laurence with their book choices.
‘‘We’re selling increasing amounts of fiction, which I didn’t think we would,’’ he says. ‘‘I did think this would be primarily a non-fiction book shop.’’
He says his customers go for ‘‘slightly more literary titles’’, a reflection perhaps of the slightly older population.
On the non-fiction side, Laurence stocks a range of titles for foodies, DIYers and adventurers. He runs a website as well and is pleasantly surprised by the orders from overseas.
‘‘We had a very good run when they set up the Te Araroa trail, where you can walk the length of NZ,’’ he says.
‘‘Somehow we got well up in the Google listings for the guide book, and we sent them all over the place, despite the fact that the cost of mailing them was the same as the cost of the book.
‘‘I guess though that if you’re living in Germany or Switzerland and plan to spend 3 months of your life and several thousand dollars, to do the Long Trail, then spending an extra $25 to get a guide book isn’t a worry!’’
Unfair competition from imports is something that does concern him.
‘‘GST on small imports is a particular issue of mine, and one that affects New Zealand retailers of all kinds,’’ he says.
‘‘If you download an e-book you’ll have to pay GST – it’s called the Netflix tax – but if you import a book you don’t. That’s not fair – and it’s contributing to the hollowing out of these small towns.’’
The irony is, he says, someone buying a book online will often face hefty freight charges, meaning they’ll often pay more than if they ordered the book from him.
Laurence’s own taste in books leans towards the historical – fiction and nonfiction – which he’ll buy rather than browse through the stock on the shelves like some people.
‘‘Once upon a time I sat down and read the first couple of chapters of a Lee Child novel,’’ he says. ‘‘And it’s just amazing how the colour of the page edges that I read changed.’’
He also admits that while business is good, and steadily getting better, they haven’t quite reached the targets they set back in the day.
‘‘When we put the business together originally, we wrote a business plan, and we’ve never got the turnover up to what we guesstimated,’’ Laurence says.
‘‘We do need to grow more to make it really worthwhile and to a large extent that depends on Carterton.’’
‘‘But if I knew then what we know now, would I have done what I’ve done?
‘‘Yeah probably!’’