Waving goodbye to Workspace Drive
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.
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.
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.
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 ❤️
