Hot on the heels of my March interview with Takapuna Beach Business Association CEO Terence Harpur about his enthusiasm for Takapuna, amid the exciting changes taking place, he will have been thrilled to see the big new Paper Plus store opening in Takapuna over March and April.
Paper Plus has taken the space previously occupied by Home Fabrics in Takapuna. The large store is the third ‘new concept’ store opened by Paper Plus across the country and is owned by passionate book lovers and husband and wife team of Christopher Zhang and Wei Li. Christopher and Wei are not newcomers to the book business; they have operated the Paper Plus Highland Park store for over a decade.
Christopher was a university lecturer in China prior to coming to New Zealand more than 20 years ago. He loves books and reading, so combining one of his passions with business was behind his move to book retailing.
“When this great retail space became available in Takapuna we first opened a pop-up store to test the waters and were thrilled with the response from locals,” explained Christopher when we popped in for a chat in late March. “We knew Takapuna was a wonderful location and it proved to be very good as in the two months of the pop-up store we sold more books than Highland Park. We are confident we have a real winner with this fully equipped new concept store. We loved the positive response and comments from the community and are focused on this being a friendly locally-owned and operated store that’s known for personal service with a smile.”
The ‘new concept’ store includes a completely new design, with a focus on digital. There are several digital screens around the place and the store will also be popular with the kids as there is a great ‘Kids Zone’ area to keep them interested while mum or dad browse the store.
The new Paper Plus Takapuna store also includes New Zealand Post services. These transferred from the previous New Zealand Post Hurstmere Green site in early March which necessitated the early March ‘soft’ opening of the store. This includes the hosting of 1400 post office (PO) boxes.
The day I popped in for a chat with Christopher and Wei the store was open, but finishing touches were still being made, in preparation for the official April 1st opening. There is a staff of five in the store that includes books, stationery, greeting cards, magazines, toys, gifts, novelty gifts, wrapping, inks, toners and New Zealand Post. There is also a Pen Station that is an interesting addition.
Welcome to Takapuna Christopher, Wei and Paper Plus Takapuna! They’ve got some great opening offers on during April and they are looking forward to seeing you in store.
Paper Plus Takapuna – Open 7 Days at 28 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna. Phone 09 666 8765
Email: takapuna@paperplus.co.nz
