Poppies Hamilton is part of the Poppies family of bookshops, and has been in Casabella Lane since 2007, give or take a year or so, with a move from the original spot at the courtyard end of the lane to our current spot near the Barton Street end in 2018. Even now, at least one person a month will come into the shop and exclaim, “You’ve moved!”
In 2019, I became the shop’s third owner. I wasn’t actively looking to buy a bookshop, but when I saw that Poppies was for sale it was as if a lightbulb lit up in my head and wouldn’t switch off. I had no business or retail experience, but did have some understanding of the book industry from my years as a book editor in the 1990s, as well as a love of spreadsheets. And books, of course.
We’re a very small crew, just me and two part-timers, Jane and Joy, who’ve both been at the shop longer than I have. The three of us are all avid readers, and agree on lots of things about books – though one of us refuses to acknowledge the special genius of Jon Klassen. We love knowing our local book community, being able to greet regular customers by name, and being able to recommend books we know they will enjoy. We’re also happy to harness the powers of the internet and all sorts of databases to try to track down hard-to-find books.
Our curated stock has an emphasis on NZ books and titles that the big chains don’t carry. We do also have a wide range of puzzles and what we’re happy to claim is Kirikiriroa Hamilton’s best selection of greeting cards, although in the words of one slightly disgruntled wee customer, “There’s no toys in here. It’s just books and books and books and books. It’s a BOOK shop!”
The shop has a special atmosphere – inviting and calming, as if you’re entering a completely different world from the noise and bright lights of the shopping mall a block away. The original owner of the shop was very keen on genuine French country-style furniture, so that’s what a lot of our stock is displayed on, and customers often ask if they can buy the tables or shelf units. Some of the pieces really are not ideal for book display, but they do look lovely, and definitely add to the ambiance.
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