Mt Eden\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Jenna Todd has arrived at a pivotal plot point.<\/p>\n
\n Wendy Tighe-Umbers, who owned Time Out Bookstore from 2002
\n until March this year, was the one to foreshadow it many chapters ago.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cFor years, she\u2019s been saying \u2013 if someone approached the store to buy it \u2013 she would always say, you\u2019ve got to talk to Jenna,” Todd explains. \u201c[I had] the first right of refusal, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n
Todd (K\u0101i Tahu) has worked at Time Out Bookstore, the cosy and buzzy bookshop that sits at the base of Maungawhau, since 2010.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
Now, Todd and her husband, Stuart (Stu) Harwood, are the owners of Time Out Bookstore.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\u201cWendy is someone that I\u2019ve spent so much time together [with] over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been times that I know she thinks I\u2019m making the wrong decision, but lets me run with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s fiercely loyal … And she\u2019s incredibly generous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Todd has played a huge role in making Time Out one of Auckland\u2019s most contemporary bookstores.<\/p>\n
Authors visit to sign their novels and their photos are shared to Instagram \u2013 among them are T\u0101me 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 \u201cbook raves\u201d have been hosted in the cosy upstairs (a particularly zeitgeist-y celebration in 2024 was a midnight celebration of a new Sally Rooney release).<\/p>\n
\u201cA bookseller these days can\u2019t rest on their laurels,\u201d Todd says.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Jenna Todd has played a huge role in making Time Out one of Auckland\u2019s most contemporary bookstores. Photo \/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n
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 T\u0101maki Makaurau Auckland afterwards. Todd first heard about the job while sitting behind the bar during a gig at The Wine Cellar in St Kevin\u2019s Arcade.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even know what Mt Eden was. Had never been there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Someone had already been offered the role \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like an instant friendship group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, she\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201ctoo big to think about\u201d.<\/p>\n
She laughs thinking about her younger self \u2013 but identifies with her worries too. Right now, she\u2019s thinking about how to get more people reading, how to navigate \u201chectic\u201d shipping, appropriate stock levels for the store and the cost of living.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels really adult because I feel very responsible for a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Time Out Bookstore is on the main road through Mt Eden. Photo \/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n
However, she finds the confidence in her collaboration with Harwood (she says their first \u201cdirectors\u2019 meeting\u201d went well), as well as her enthusiastic staff. She\u2019s also worked through major disruptions before \u2013 Covid, the surge of online book sales and the long tail of the Global Financial Crisis in the early 2010s. <\/p>\n
The community surrounding the shop also brings encouragement. Todd explains that in her role as a bookseller, she\u2019s intimately involved in people\u2019s lives. When customers drop by asking for books about grief, or love, or heartbreak, or joy, she\u2019s there to find them a story that can guide them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe build really strong connections with people,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne time I even gave a eulogy at a customer\u2019s funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n
Todd says her job is well coveted.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople tell us every day they wish they had our job. We\u2019re working their dream job.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou actually just need to be a people person. Be really curious about people, be able to read, have good intuition about people.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a responsibility she doesn\u2019t take lightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are trusting us with their time, which is so precious these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jenna Todd\u2019s Mt Eden favourites<\/p>\n
For the best coffee … RAD Cafe.<\/p>\n
For a sandwich … Chapter.<\/p>\n
For a wrap …. Eden Deli. <\/p>\n
For a shop … Mercy Hospice.<\/p>\n
More on T\u0101maki Makaurau<\/p>\n
Stories from the biggest city in Aotearoa. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mt Eden\u2019s Time Out Bookstore has changed ownership, but a familiar face will be at the helm. Jenna…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1443,202165,14664,6186,14449,202166,1872,29467,35838,71,6101,41464,13453,14448,5338,111,43,139,69,90,3111,2738,3169,1314,1326,1516,14939,301,2044,22505,6923,1533],"class_list":{"0":"post-390806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-about","9":"tag-bookseller","10":"tag-bookstore","11":"tag-changed","12":"tag-crutchley","13":"tag-edens","14":"tag-face","15":"tag-familiar","16":"tag-floor","17":"tag-from","18":"tag-good","19":"tag-helm","20":"tag-jenna","21":"tag-madeleine","22":"tag-makes","23":"tag-new-zealand","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-newzealand","26":"tag-nz","27":"tag-on","28":"tag-out","29":"tag-owner","30":"tag-ownership","31":"tag-road","32":"tag-shop","33":"tag-staff","34":"tag-succession","35":"tag-talks","36":"tag-time","37":"tag-todd","38":"tag-what","39":"tag-will"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}