After owning Paper Plus for 24 years, it's time to take on another challenge

Murray and Linda Green are celebrating the end of an era. Photo/Kate Durie.

Murray and Linda Green have been owners of Paper Plus Te Awamutu since May 1, 1998. The store has a rich history within the town.

The business began in 1917 and has changed hands into three long-term owners for about 80 years; although they have been from different families, they were all people living in Te Awamutu.

The new owners who have taken over the business are Chris and Michelle Fleming, who have returned to the Waikato after 16 years in the South Island.

Murray was born in Greymouth, but moved to Te Miro when he was 4. He continued to move around Waikato with his farming family. After leaving school he joined the BNZ where he worked throughout New Zealand. Linda's early career was in the Matamata Borough Council where, ironically, Richard Guy had worked before he purchased this business in 1974. She later moved to Tauranga and trained as a nurse and later had clerical and accounting roles in several businesses as they moved for Murray's jobs in the Bank.

Before purchasing the store, they hoped to buy a farm in Southland. However, as fate would have it, they soon set their eyes on Paper Plus. When living in Southland, Linda recalled the success of the multifaceted store in Winton, with a Paper Plus, Lotto, NZ post and a travel agency. She remembers it always being busy and bustling with people so wanted to emulate that.

After viewing several Paper Plus stores, they eventually settled on Guys Paper Plus in Te Awamutu. Murray and Linda were joined in partnership by Bill & Lynda Frazerhurst and Murray's parents Russell & Yvonne Green. Murray and Bill had worked together in the BNZ.

They adapted quickly to retail and didn't experience the drop in sales that often follows a change of ownership. Murray believes this was a credit to the staff they had at the time, but they slowly put their own stamp on things. One of those was to relocate the store from Alexandra St (now Noel Leeming) to its present location in November 2011 (previously Mitre 10).

"What I was doing in the bank was not too different to retail, it's not as far apart as you might think. At the end of the day, it is about making connections with people and providing them with a service, the only difference here is instead of loans they are looking for books, toys etc," says Murray.

On top of running a successful business, Murray is also the President of Athletics Waikato/Bay of Plenty and the Te Awamutu Athletics Club and has received service awards from Sport Waikato, Athletics Waikato/Bay of Plenty and Athletics NZ.

One of the things Murray and Linda have been most proud of in their work over the past 24 years, is that it provided them with the opportunity to give back to the community. During their first week as owners, Murray was asked to contribute to the proposed event centre in town, and of course, they were happy to help.

"In the time we have been in town we have given away half a million dollars in various sponsorships and donations, like groups such as the netball centre, bowling clubs, bridge club, golf clubs, Cornerstone Trust, Life Education and scores of others."

"You can never measure what you get back through your sponsorships, but if it helps clubs or teams survive and exist, that's great. It helps build a vibrant community," he adds.

Paper Plus Te Awamutu has won a number of awards and recognition in relation to their community sponsorship by the Waipa Business Awards and Paper Plus Awards.

One of their proudest achievements has been winning the Large Store of the Year Award in 2019. "There haven't been other awards ceremonies since Covid, so we still are," says Murray.

They also have enjoyed "giving students the opportunity to secure their first job, which gives them a chance to grow and become young adults. It's a bit like coaching – you are giving young people new skills to try to reach their potential. We have always strived to provide a consistently high level of service to customers, which we have embedded into the team. Over the years this has been our point of difference and our team fully embrace that ethos".

They are working alongside the new owners as they navigate the handover process. This will be taking place over the next four weeks to ensure they are up to speed with all the business running out of the store.

"It is a complicated business to take over, some businesses have one supplier, we have hundreds and four main franchises, it's an awful lot to learn and get your head around. We are reliant on staff to help Chris and Michelle going forward, and this was also the case when we started," says Murray.

"This is our legacy at the end of the day, and we want the new owners to be successful. We put a lot of our life into this business. In five years' time, we want to come in and see the store still thriving," added Murray.

During retirement, they are looking forward to spending more time with our family and see more of our country in their new caravan.

Murray is excited to play more golf and continue his work with athletics. He said he also plans to help Linda in their large garden.

"We would like to thank the Te Awamutu Community for your support over the years, and through that support, we in turn have enjoyed being able to support many community organisations with their endeavours.

"Mostly, we thank our amazing staff that we have had the pleasure of working beside and who have all made their own impressions on the business. We will continue to enjoy the many friendships made," says Murray and Linda.