Tim Skinner

For booksellers and most retailers, the Rugby World Cup was the spark that did not ignite. Instead of ringing tills, foot traffic was down by half in Auckland’s Newmarket shopping area. In New Plymouth, Benny’s Books put up the bunting and stocked up on rugby titles – but nobody came despite three high profile matches in the city.

RWC tourists visited bookshops in Greymouth and Wanaka – to buy maps. Union, the big lead rugby book for the event, hasn’t even made it on to Nielsen BookScan’s top ten non-fiction list.

The cultural relevance and intellect of a city can always be judged by the health of its independent bookselling community, and on that criteria alone Wellington is
not just the country’s political capital but the undisputed literary capital as well.

Not only does it have a wide and diverse range of independent bookshops, it also has the best, with vastly more industry awards over the last decade being won by
Wellington bookshops than anywhere else in New Zealand.