Pennys': 31 successful years in Hamilton’s Chartwell Mall

How to remember when you bought your bookstore business? “Our third daughter, Natasha, was only eight weeks oldwhen we took over,” recalls Sheryl Penny.

“So that means we have had Pennys’ Bookstore for 31 years. Of course it was only five days a week in those early years!”

Stephen and Sheryl Penny’s bookshop was in Hamilton's Chartwell Mall, though the mall was tiny then, compared to the size it is today. As the city’s suburbs expanded to the north, the mall expanded hugely. It has only recently been knocked off its perch as the city’s premier shopping area by a new development at Te Rapa, but still has a prestigious retail mix – and the edge on rainy days, as 80 percent of the Chartwell’s carparks are undercover.

IMAGE: Pennys’ Bookstore for years has held a key ground floor location and today covers three ‘bays’, around 500 sq metres. Books have always been the dominant part of the business, but Pennys’ also does well with cards, social stationery and magazines.

Nationwide to PaperPlus to Independent
In the first decade of the business, they joined Nationwide stationers – David Kydd was Sheryl’s former school mate.

When that became PaperPlus, Pennys’ initially made the change, but opted out when some of the requirements involved purchasing office furniture, which the store couldn’t sell, and the costs of being a member made it too expensive to belong to a group and stay in the Mall. Silver lining – “everyone in the family has two or three office chairs to this day!”

Now they are part of the Leading Edge buying group and find that suits their needs perfectly. “Their promotions work well for us,” says Sheryl “It is our book selection that gets our name out there.”

Many university and hospital staff live in the area and shop at Pennys’, so they’ve grown accustomed to doing a lot of special orders to meet the diverse titles their customers require. “We can do it really fast now. I placed an order in the States last Friday, and have paid the GST today, Wednesday, and expect delivery today or tomorrow.”

IMAGE: Sandy Pull is a friendly face greeting customers at Penny's.

Sourcing remainders as core business
Pennys’ have another book field they’ve carefully developed, which supports their business. They source their own selection of remainders from an exclusive supplier in the UK and also from the USA.

“We get a couple of big lots in per year. It is a good way to introduce new and different authors to the market… many then go on to be bought regularly as new releases.” At three for $25, the store turns over at least 30 on a slow day, on a good day, 100.

Bestsellers and genres
Frontlist selections are in line with every other good bookseller: “We have sold at least one of Larsson’s Millenium trilogy every day for the past year.”

Current best seller in fiction is Lesley Pearce’s Belle. Annabel Langbein’s newest is the lead cook book bestseller for the past year, of course, and cooking titles are always good sellers for the store.

Pennys’ make a point of getting in expensive international cook books and have built a reputation as a resource for Hamilton chefs. At Christmas they also sell high-priced large format illustrated books and specialist titles.

Ray Avery’s Rebel with a Cause is a constant seller and Nigel Latta’s parenting books turn over quickly – must be a few problem kids out there reckons Sheryl!

A fast growing section is teen fiction. “We’ve really had to expand to cover all the new series kids are after these days. I love it, it has got kids back reading.”

Sheryl also has praise for vampire novels. “Stephenie Meyer has got adults reading who previously would not have picked up a book. It is quite poignant to have people in their thirties buying a vampire title and telling you it is the first book they’ve ever bought!”

Sci-fi is also important to the store. These days, it is not just one author in demand, but several. They’ve a former staff member who is passionate about the genre and often emails advice on new titles and series.

Two professionally produced local titles are also popular with Pennys’ customers: St Paul’s Collegiate Plates for Mates cookbook and the new guide Country Cafes – Waikato Region.

363 days a year
And although the business was originally run five days a week, Pennys’ couldn’t go back to those times. Their busiest trading days are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday the quietest.

Penny family power was an important input when Stephen and Sheryl’s three daughters were growing up. “They’ve all done their time working in the store as teenagers.”

IMAGE (left - right): Nichola Carter (nee: Penny) and Sheryl and Stephen Penny.

Today Sarah is in the printing business, Nichola works part-time job-sharing with Sheryl, and youngest daughter Natasha works for a corporate in Auckland.

There are currently three full-time staff, working a 42.5 hour week, one day of which is in the weekend. It is important to Stephen and Sheryl that there is always a fully experienced person available for customers. Five part-timers fill the rest of the schedule. Stephen is the office and accounts mainstay of the business.

Crime and mystery a major strength
Book buyer Linda Lee shares book buying duties with Sheryl; Linda doing the bulk of it and being the store’s recognised expert in mystery and crime.

“The more difficult the mystery, and the greater the blood and gore the more Linda likes it,” laughs Sheryl – Linda’s on leave and not available to speak for herself.

Linda makes a holiday trip every two years to the UK’s Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. As a result, she’s on first name terms with many leading crime writers and often gets advance copies of their books. Christchurch-based writer of international best sellers Paul Cleave is another author who keeps in touch.

Looking ahead: dull with some bright spots
On overseas trips, Stephen and Sheryl have admired Barnes and Noble stores. “They’re my dream stores. We look at them for different ideas and designs of fixtures and love the idea of being able to incorporate a café even though that is not really possible in our situation,” says Sheryl.

IMAGE:Barnes & Noble bookstore: “We envy the fact that there is not the deep discounting in America and the UK that you see in New Zealand.

“On the positive side, at Pennys’ Bookstore we are currently experiencing strong demand and growth in book buying. Perhaps it is that people are not going on expensive overseas holidays but compensating with buying small treats, like books they really want. And it is crucial that we offer those books on our shelves and maintain good stock over a wide range of titles.”