Paper Plus stores in Blenheim and Nelson: ‘having fun with what we do’

David Moir was a sales rep at Wiljefs Stationery in Christchurch when he asked Philip King if he could work in one of his stores on Saturday mornings for free.

“Why would you want to do that?” asked Philip. “Because I’m going to open my own PaperPlus store in Nelson” replied David.

“I’m going to open there too,” said Philip, but he still let the novice book seller get experience.

As it happened, David didn’t have Philip in competition with him in Nelson because the King mini chain was sold to Whitcoulls before the planned expansion.

In November 1988, David opened PaperPlus Nelson in a newly developed PaperPlus Shopping Centre – he was able to get naming rights for the arcade.

IMAGE: David Moir outside Paper Plus Nelson.

Since then, the store has moved twice and as of 18 months ago, it is a bright and shiny Concept 6 store in Trafalgar Street – making a triangle with its opposition bookstores, Whitcoulls and the independent Page & Blackmore (David used to call on Peter and Ann Rigg when he was with Wiljef’s!).

If you’ve done the maths, that’s 22 years ago and much has happened since then.

In 1989, David opened Richmond PaperPlus near Nelson, and that business ran for 18 years, latterly in the hands of David’s sister in law, Kim Moir. It was closed after the PaperPlus chain took over Books n’ More, which already operated in Richmond Mall.

Meanwhile another store had opened in Blenheim. David joined forces with a former Wiljef colleague Sean Weir to open a PaperPlus there in 1993. Pictured above are the staff at Paper Plus Blenheim: (left-right) Linda, Judy (partly obscured), Moira, Helen, Sean, Judith, Karen, Colleen and Wendy.

The move must have been successful - ten years later the two were in full partnership with three stores (the Richmond store was still open at the time.)

Blenheim was a small store for the first few years, then almost doubled in size to 480 sq m by expanding into the store next door.

“The business has continued to grow every year since its opening,” comments David.

When Richmond closed, David and Sean joined Take Note Takaka owner Bob Hancock to develop the business there. The timing worked well, Kim Moir and her builder husband relocated and now she runs a 450 sq m store with Lotto and NZ Post agencies.

The big store is a very much upgraded and refitted former supermarket. “It is a one stop shop in Takaka,” says David.

“In summer the population swells to four or five times the usual.”

Takaka is the beginning and end point of Abel Tasman walks, canoeing and kayaking activities.

When it comes to refits, David feels he’s over it. “I’ve remodelled stores 12 times!”

Perhaps the easiest was the PaperPlus Nelson development to Concept 6 – the old store two doors away stayed open while new premises were fitted out, and the move happened only after the new store was completed.

IMAGE: an interior shot of Paper Plus Nelson.

IMAGE: an interior shot of Paper Plus Nelson.

A greater degree of difficulty was encountered in Blenheim’s upgrade to Concept 6 in October last year: not only did the store have to stay open while being remodelled, the new look required a whole new set of stairs in a different area, and the destruction of the former staircase.

An earlier business development was when Sean Weir moved from Blenheim to Nelson in 2003 to actively join David in the management of their stores.

It’s Sean who “goes holidaying” – according to David – when there’s a need to check on their mini empire, 116 kilometres to Blenheim, 106 in the opposite direction to Takaka. (David and Sean share an office, so there are clear sounds of scoffing in the background.)

When Sean left Blenheim, managerial duties were taken over by Judith Carruthers, who recently cut back her work time; and now colleague Karen Gibb is in charge.

David and Sean believe in having fun in what they do, and the Blenheim store team are right behind the philosophy. “Every promotion they get behind with gusto,” says David.

  Blenheim Paper Plus are currently proud of being second for the whole group in the number of tokens redeemed for NZ Book Month, “Second by only a very narrow margin,” says manager Karen, “Little Blenheim, who’d have believed that was possible!”

IMAGE: some of the staff at Blenheim Paper Plus show of their Mother's Day tattoos.

This week, the team is enthusiastically wearing and giving out fake tattoos promoting the Mother’s Day Books for Life promotion.

With the businesses now in a mature phase, David and Sean are working on sticking with their offer and gaining mostly incremental increases in various areas.

All stores have full security including tagged items to positively prevent shrinkage. The management duo ensure core products are always in stock and reorder items frequently.

“Annabel Langbein’s book was one out of the blue – you don’t get many highlights like that these days!” The group has sold 1,700 of The Free Range Cook to date and as it is being promoted for Mother’s Day at the new price point of $39.99, that number is sure to increase.

“We are always looking for a scoop,” says David. “The Magic Eye was one from a few years back. I saw the title, was impressed, and asked the rep how many were coming in to New Zealand - it was 300 and I took the lot.”

Of the three booksellers in the Trafalgar Street triangle, David says they are probably still ranked third in book sales, but they are working on that. In contrast, when the business started, books were no more than 25 percent of turnover, and today that has improved to 40 percent.

The market in Blenheim is different, and David estimates that their store is number one in the market over most departments.

For a PaperPlus store, the Back to School promotion is all important, and combining internet ordering with same day delivery, the stores traded well at the start of the year.

David is also very active in the Nelson community, doing his time on school boards and the local Chamber of Commerce. He considers it important that stores have a local focus.

The trade presents a bit of a muddled picture at the moment, David believes. “I hope clarity will come sooner rather than later. It will mostly depend on what ultimately happens to the Whitcoulls stores.”

But he is still excited about the future.

In his 22 years in business, David has seen more than a few ‘interesting times’ – one of them being the current voluntary administration of Whitcoulls stores.

David reckons he will survive a few more ups and downs in the book trade yet: “The enthusiasm for the books and stationery is still there!”