Whitcoulls: a proud Kiwi business success for most of its 128 years

Whitcoulls has had that name on their storefronts since 1973.

But the roots and history of the company go back to Victorian era Christchurch when in 1882 the entrepreneurial George Whitcombe partnered with George Tombs who ran a sizeable quality printing firm in the city.

IMAGE: The original Cashel Street store in Christchurch.

George Whitcombe was a former teacher who joined a small books and stationery business, later taking over their agency for the grandly titled New Zealand Educational Book Depository. He was also a hard-headed businessman and successful salesman who insisted Whitcombe preceded the more ‘gruesome’ name of Tombs in the company’s title!

Whitcombe & Tombs offered extensive printing services from the start, and also operated as a bookseller, being the agent for major publishers of the time. W & T also went promptly into the education area with a catalogue of educational works and a Teachers’ Specimen Library. Clearly teachers could choose references and school texts from the selection.

Financial security was important from the start; profits were ploughed back into the enterprise and two thousand pounds was spent upgrading the printing plant and machinery. Whitcombe & Tombs became a public company in 1883; just the fifteenth public limited liability company in New Zealand.

George Whitcombe had daily contact with teachers at the Cashel Street store and the company published their first text, with four colour illustrations, Geography of New Zealand and Australia by JJ Patterson in 1884. This no-mucking-about approach was clearly the way they intended to do business in the future. Alfred Cox’s book of travel Recollections was published the same year, and the Handbook of Gardening for New Zealand followed in 1886.

The print trade flourished, editor James Hight was employed, Whitcombe & Tombs were growing fast on all fronts. They expanded to diaries and exercise books, then into Southern Cross Readers for schools.

Industrial relations and the Depression of the 1890’s affected the firm for a time, but by 1893, Felix Tombs, George’s son, was sent to represent Whitcombe & Tombs in London. Bertie Whitcombe, the eldest of George W’s seven sons, also joined the company.

IMAGE: The 'new' Cashel Street store opened in 1907.

George W kept up the strong drive for leadership in both fields in the early years of the 20th century. Linotype machines were introduced and later gas and steam powered presses. He toured the UK approaching the company’s suppliers and trying to negotiate better terms where possible; he also visited Canada and Australia. The Cashel Street store was transformed into a much larger building with impressive façade and an upper gallery around the large retail space. A branch was opened in Australia.

There was retail expansion to Dunedin, Auckland, Wellington, Invercargill and a massive purpose-built new plant in Christchurch (later to be known as ‘that hulking octopus’ – clearly size wasn’t everything!)

IMAGE: The Dunedin store in 1931.

George W died at work in 1917 – George T had died earlier in the century. Both had sons who worked for the company.

The next 40-year long era was that of Bertie Whitcombe. As indefatigable as his father, possessed of a unique sense of humour and with a long apprenticeship under his belt, he extended the sense of family to employees and customers.

He walked the floor and talked to customers much as his father did, and established a popular annual sale.

In business, Bertie (pictured left) was conservative and focused on business and financial stability. They were traits that took the company relatively unscathed through the ‘thirties Depression and the Second World War.

Both sides of the business, the printing and the retail and publishing activities, were nurtured. The list of publications on New Zealand’s history and farming grew along with home gardening titles. A renewed push on educational publishing began in 1922. Again, the emphasis was on expectations to ‘please the child, the teacher, the inspector, the parent and the Department of Education’ – a tall order which was met successfully.

IMAGE: The interior of the Wellington store in the 1920s/1930s.

The London office was maintained and operated as a purchasing branch and later a store showcasing the company’s books, right through until the seventies.

Postwar, Bertie (and five of his brothers, plus long term employees) were well set up to expand the business once more. Time was again devoted to printing – the ‘hulking octopus’ at last paid its way - and that provided cash to expand the retail and publishing sides of the business. Real competition was in place from Coulls Somerville Wilkie in the printing side and from others like AH & AW Reed in publishing. Whitcombe & Tombs rose to the challenge, dropping the dated Story Books and replacing them with the Janet & John series.

IMAGE: A cartoon dated to the 1950s.

John Pascoe’s Land Uplifted High and Kenneth Cumberland’s Southwest Pacific were quality productions, and in the ‘fifties bestsellers could rise as high as 300,000 copies according to Books for a Nation: The Whitcoulls Story written by Noel Waite. While that sounds unlikely for mainstream titles, the figure was likely reached in the massive educational book runs for Australia.

IMAGE: A 'New Zealand Book Week' display in Queen Street, Auckland; 1962.

After Bertie’s retirement in 1957 and the onset of the ‘sixties, times began to change. The Department of Education’s free textbook scheme meant they took over the bulk of educational publishing completely, leaving only a very small margin for publishers. Nevertheless, the backlist was substantial and the company averaged 20 titles a year designed, printed and sold by Whitcoulls. Among those was New Zealand: Gift of the Sea, a landmark book in New Zealand publishing from Maurice Shadbolt with Brian Brake’s photography. The company also had record turnover and profit in 1967 and ’68.

Without educational publications to keep printing plants busy, Whitcombe & Tombs looked to join forces with its major print competitor, Coulls Somerville Wilkie. After months of negotiation and the creation of a holding company, PrintPac, the new entity was announced in1973 as Whitcoulls – effectively a subsidiary of PrintPac.

Book publishing was a casualty of the merger, as the cash and asset rich company was beginning to attract attention from a new generation of business movers and shakers. Brierley were quick to acquire shares in PrintPac increasing its holding to 43 per cent and then completing a takeover. Eventually, the publishing list was sold to Penguin.

By ’89 Whitcoulls was spun off as a dedicated retail operation, still a big entity. Graeme Hart bought the stores for $71m in ’93, then added London Bookshops and Philip King Booksellers to the chain in ’95.

The remainder of the book industry erupted with disquiet at having such a dominant competitor, one who made up around 50% of book and stationery sales in New Zealand. A case was made to the Commerce Commission that the situation would materially affect the trading opportunities of other booksellers in this country by creating a monolith with the possible powers to virtually dictate to the industry. Publishers submissions were prescient about the industry dominance that later occurred. The Commerce Commission was not swayed and the merger was allowed to go ahead.

In Hart’s day, the link was made with Angus and Robertson – a link that became almost total Australian control of Whitcoulls over the next ten years.

A ping-pong sequence to various owners then occurred:

• In 1998 to Eric Watson’s Blue Star Group who began installing the sophisticated information systems needed to conduct business.
• In 2000 to US Office Products (who went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy)
• Around this time, a bold venture into online bookselling – Flying Pig – crashed and burned. The idea was good, but it was too early for mainstream uptake.
• In 2001 to English booksellers and stationers WH Smith.
• In 2004 to Pacific Equity Partners, a Sydney-based investment firm ‘focusing on buyouts and late stage investment capital’ and the sixth owner in 20 years. PEP placed Whitcoulls management firmly under the  control of Australia’s Angus and Robertson and increased that management supervision after its 2008 acquisition of Borders stores in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

The combined entity was renamed REDgroup in late 2008.

As we know, REDgroup was placed in administration by PEP on February 17.

It is disquieting to learn that the principal creditors of the failed company are in fact its owners, PEP. Will their losses – arguably caused by their mismanagement of the business – outrank those of suppliers?

So what will happen now to the proud legacy of Whitcoulls, a household name in New Zealand and the dominant Kiwi bookselling chain? Sadly the Cashel Street store, retaining very little of its former splendor, was a victim of the 26 December 2011 earthquake and did not re-open, prior to the even more destructive and fatal earthquake on Tuesday.

IMAGE: A historical photo of the interior of the Cashel Street store.

The Read hopes that the proud legacy of George Whitcombe and George Tombs and their considerable success in retail bookselling can be saved in this country. That the old values of knowing your customers personally, treating staff as important colleagues and employing prudent business practices to fund growth can be reinstated.

Whitcoulls – as Kiwi as; let’s hope they find a way to survive.

Images from Books for a Nation: The Whitcoulls Story (2008) by Dr. Noel Waite. The original images, part of a significant archive, are now held at the Auckland Museum.

By Jillian Ewart, writer for The Read.