Rotorua bookstores look forward to welcoming customers back into shops

Atlantis Books owner Fraser Newman. Photo / File

Local bookstores are hoping avid readers and the community will be itching to come into the store and pick up new reads.

Atlantis Books co-owner Fraser Newman says the Covid-19 lockdown has had a huge impact on their business.

"We had absolutely no income through level four and have had significantly lower income in level three. It's not sustainable. I understand that we had to do it, but it's definitely been tough."

They started an online service immediately when the country went from alert level four to three, and a lot of people were clicking and collecting rather than ordering with delivery.

He says they had tried doing online orders previously, but it hadn't worked out.

Fraser says there was a big burst of orders initially, but it has been slowing down.

"A lot of people may be waiting for level two. I think we will have a big influx of people initially [at level two] and then we will probably slow down a lot."

He says it is important for the Rotorua community to support and buy local because, "we are all in this together".

"We employ local people and help keep money in the community."

Gaby, from McLeods Booksellers, says they have been closed to the public, but have been busy processing orders from the website and over the phone.

"This is something we would normally do but we are of course greatly missing the presence of customers in the store, purchasing books.

She says McLeods appreciates the support it has received from its local customers and from people all around New Zealand.

"We have had many customers say they are really looking forward to come back in and shop.

"We are a gathering place for many people, somewhere that is part of their everyday lives, so we are excited to welcome them back."

She says that obviously, like many businesses, they are running at only a fraction of what they usually would.

"The disruption to freight by Covid-19 has had a huge impact on us and delivery times for orders is very slow."

She says the true impact of the virus is yet to been seen.

"One positive is that our website has been very busy, which is great, and we hope to reach new markets over the coming months."

Gaby says having people in the streets shopping and coming into the store will be the greatest part of level two.

"We are hoping people are itching to come and say hi."

She encourages the community to buy local, saying it is crucial that we help each other out, shop local and support small business.

"In the long run we all benefit from money being spent local. It is going to be a challenging time ahead but shopping local is something you can do that you know will have a positive impact."