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Hard to Find Bookshop bought books from David Lange and Robert Muldoon.
A popular bookstore that has served imaginative worlds for young and old for over 30 years is facing a crisis.
The Hard To Find bookstore, located in Onehunga in Auckland, is set to close as the owner threatens to raise his rent, despite the walls of the historic building he finds himself collapsing in.
Heartbroken store owner Warwick Jordan said he didn’t have the money to cover the rent increase.
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The second-hand bookstore has been open for 30 years but is housed in a historic building.
“I love the place, it breaks my heart it is as it is,” he said.
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“I don’t own a house, I don’t own anything – I just own books.
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The store, which also has a branch in Dunedin, houses more than half a million pounds between the two branches.
“It’s really an anachronism that shouldn’t exist … but we love what we do. It’s who I am.”
Jordan said he hated asking for charity, and over the years people have tried to donate books to him, but he always insisted on paying them for it.
But in an attempt to cover the costs, Jordan appealed to Givealittle, hoping book lovers would dig deep.
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The bookstore is located in a dilapidated 19th century building in Onehunga.
“Now I’m holding a tin cup. It’s really embarrassing.”
He either hopes to raise enough money to bid on the store or, if that is not possible, to cover the extra rent until he finds another solution.
Jordan started collecting books in 1983 in the back of his garage.
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Owner Warwick Jordan has all kinds of weird and wonderful things, not just books, all over the store.
His dream came true in 1984 when he founded his first bookstore. Four years later, it nestled in the 19th century building on The Mall in Onehunga.
“It was founded on my passion and obsession with books of all kinds, and I think we created a store with an essence of magic, fun and surprise, a repository of learning, knowledge and fun. “, he wrote on the Givealittle page.
“The books in the store are complemented by the store itself – a chaotic, 19th-century wooden multi-story building with well-worn wooden stairs and original wallpaper still hanging (just) on the walls. is both a cultural icon and an economic anachronism with a unique bookish atmosphere accessible to all incomes and tastes. â€
With his shop in Dunedin, Jordan would estimate he owns around half a million pounds.
Over the past 30 years he has purchased books from Robert Muldoon, David Lange, Edmund Hillary and the Estate of Peter Blake.
Its clients have included the rich and the “ratbagsâ€, as well as the poor who sell books to pay their electricity bills.
In one case, a young boy upset his mother to buy The never-ending story. The price was $ 25, and she wouldn’t allow it.
They left the store. It seemed too strange to Jordan, considering the opening scene is of a young Bastian receiving an ancient storybook from the owner.
Jordan said he ran down the street and stopped the mother and son before offering the book to the child.
He remembered the mother saying, “I don’t accept charity.”
“And I said, well it’s too bad I’m not talking to you.
“It seemed like the perfect thing to do. I always wondered if the kid was making the connection to this story.”
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