Mt Eden’s Time Out Bookstore has changed ownership, but a familiar face will be at the helm. Jenna Todd talks to Madeleine Crutchley about her road from shop floor to shop owner.
Jenna Todd has arrived at a pivotal plot point.
Wendy Tighe-Umbers, who owned Time Out Bookstore from 2002
until March this year, was the one to foreshadow it many chapters ago.
“For years, she’s been saying – if someone approached the store to buy it – she would always say, you’ve got to talk to Jenna,” Todd explains. “[I had] the first right of refusal, I guess.”
Todd (Kāi Tahu) has worked at Time Out Bookstore, the cosy and buzzy bookshop that sits at the base of Maungawhau, since 2010.
As a bookseller and manager, she has been both aware and slightly avoidant of the fact that this day would come. She decided she was ready after plenty of encouragement from and consultation with friends, family and other local business owners (Todd mentions Flying Out and Bar Martin).
Now, Todd and her husband, Stuart (Stu) Harwood, are the owners of Time Out Bookstore.
Names from customers on the wall next to shelves stocking children’s books. Photo / Jason Dorday
At Time Out Bookstore, you tiptoe over titles on your way upstairs. Photo / Jason Dorday
“Wendy is someone that I’ve spent so much time together [with] over the years.
“There have been times that I know she thinks I’m making the wrong decision, but lets me run with it.”
Tighe-Umbers is still on the timesheet. She will continue to manage bookkeeping and greeting card buying, for as long as she feels like doing it, says Todd.
“She’s fiercely loyal … And she’s incredibly generous.”
Todd has played a huge role in making Time Out one of Auckland’s most contemporary bookstores.
Authors visit to sign their novels and their photos are shared to Instagram – among them are Tāme Iti, Trent Dalton and Shana Chandra. Staff share personalised recommendations and reviews in-store, online and with various news channels. Readings from local writers and poets, book clubs and “book raves” have been hosted in the cosy upstairs (a particularly zeitgeist-y celebration in 2024 was a midnight celebration of a new Sally Rooney release).
“A bookseller these days can’t rest on their laurels,” Todd says.
In the announcement of the succession plan, the creative community around Time Out Bookstore celebrated. Among the loyalists who shared kind words were Auckland band The Beths, musician Nadia Reid and author Karina Parker.
Jenna Todd has played a huge role in making Time Out one of Auckland’s most contemporary bookstores. Photo / Jason Dorday
Building a career as a bookseller was a twist on expectations, Todd says. She studied art in Dunedin before heading off on tour with her husband-to-be (Harwood was, and still is, a drummer). They ended up in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland afterwards. Todd first heard about the job while sitting behind the bar during a gig at The Wine Cellar in St Kevin’s Arcade.
“I didn’t even know what Mt Eden was. Had never been there.”
Someone had already been offered the role – but they turned it down. Todd received an invitation to an interview a few days later, found her way to the mystery suburb and now, 16 years later, she owns one of the best bookstores in Auckland.
When she was first settling into the new city, Time Out Bookstore was crucial in building community. Staff were all the same age and some became flatmates.
“It was like an instant friendship group.”
Now, she’s well settled in this city. Todd lives in Mt Roskill, does the occasional Zumba class at her community centre and frequently photographs weddings for friends and acquaintances.
More than 10 years ago, fresh off her win of Young Book Retailer of the Year, Todd considered the potential of owning Time Out. At the time, she said it felt “too big to think about”.
She laughs thinking about her younger self – but identifies with her worries too. Right now, she’s thinking about how to get more people reading, how to navigate “hectic” shipping, appropriate stock levels for the store and the cost of living.
“It feels really adult because I feel very responsible for a lot of people.”
Time Out Bookstore is on the main road through Mt Eden. Photo / Jason Dorday
However, she finds the confidence in her collaboration with Harwood (she says their first “directors’ meeting” went well), as well as her enthusiastic staff. She’s also worked through major disruptions before – Covid, the surge of online book sales and the long tail of the Global Financial Crisis in the early 2010s.
The community surrounding the shop also brings encouragement. Todd explains that in her role as a bookseller, she’s intimately involved in people’s lives. When customers drop by asking for books about grief, or love, or heartbreak, or joy, she’s there to find them a story that can guide them.
“We build really strong connections with people,” she says.
“One time I even gave a eulogy at a customer’s funeral.”
Todd says her job is well coveted.
“People tell us every day they wish they had our job. We’re working their dream job.”
Booksellers, yes, need to read widely, stay on top of new releases and consider how to connect the dots on books that suit particular readers. But she focuses on the simplest thing.
“You actually just need to be a people person. Be really curious about people, be able to read, have good intuition about people.”
It’s a responsibility she doesn’t take lightly.
“People are trusting us with their time, which is so precious these days.”
Jenna Todd’s Mt Eden favourites
For the best coffee … RAD Cafe.
For a sandwich … Chapter.
For a wrap …. Eden Deli.
For a shop … Mercy Hospice.
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