Wellington staple book store Vic Books announces closure

Vic Books at Victoria University of Wellington's Kelburn Campus. Photo / Google Maps

Wellington’s Vic Books has announced it will shut up shop permanently after almost 50 years in the business.

Jessica Godfrey, the store’s general manager, told NZME the past three years have taken a toll on the business and the decision to shut the doors did not come easily.

“This is the most difficult decision anyone could make. This makes a difference in so many people’s lives - the staff, the students, the university staff and the loyal customers.

“We’d like to thank them all for their loyal support.”

The Pipitea location closed last July after Covid-19 and the subsequent Parliament occupation made it impossible to bounce back. The double-hit of the pandemic, and then the 23-day-long occupation of Parliament grounds made the business untenable.

The Kelburn store will shut up shop on March 31, but the priority until that date is to ensure students still have access to their trimester 1 textbooks and that service continues as usual.

“We’re going to make the next 10 weeks as cool as possible,” Godfrey said.

Godfrey told NZME the store is highly seasonal, relying on university students to come into the shop while they’re on campus - but Covid-19 made business challenging.

“The population is a bit depleted here, and we rely on customers to come in and buy the goods essentially. The entire Covid period has been pretty difficult. The business has always had several months in the year you’ve lost business because it is highly seasonal.”