Home to one of Auckland’s oldest second-hand bookstore’s up for sale

It has housed 500,000 books for the past eight years, but the home of one of the oldest second-hand bookstore’s in Auckland is now officially for sale.

Hard to Find Books moved into the former 119-year-old Catholic convent at 2 St Benedicts Street in 2017 after initially being based in Onehunga.

The store has operated in the city for 42 years, surviving the surge in malls and online bookstores in that time.

However, in June, it was revealed that the building's owner, the Catholic Church, had decided it intended to sell.

At the time, bookstore owner Warwick Jordan told Stuff his lease was coming to an end and the church wanted him gone.

The Catholic Church told Stuff they regularly review their property holdings and hoped the bookstore could continue at another location.

“We make decisions based on how we believe the Catholic Church's mission across the region can best be carried out,” a spokesperson said.

Jordan’s lease runs until February 2026; however, the situation has left Jordan in a conundrum, not just for the future of his business but also for his personal situation, as he now faces becoming homeless.

“I live upstairs. It's the only way it makes it [the business] viable,” he said.

Jordan added that to continue running the store, he now faces the prospect of looking outside Auckland for a new site or moving exclusively to an online operation.

As a result, he has started a fundraising drive to help him set up elsewhere.

“T he bookshop has been a labour of love which pays our wages and gives many people of all ages pleasure,” the Give a Little page says.

Jordan says it would cost $100k to move all the books off-site. So far, over $9,000 has been raised.

The shop stocks around half a million books. Photo: Hard to Find/Supplied

“I don’t know what I am going to do. My thoughts at the moment are to try and find somewhere outside of the city because there's nothing in the city and go online,” he told Stuff in June.

“I t will be economical, it will probably work, it just won’t be in the city because it's too expensive. I will be out in the countryside in a shed or something.”

Jones said the whole experience has been“ soul-destroying,” and that moving online would never replicate that in-store experience for people.“ There won’t be any people browsing. It's not the same.”

The property is open for tender until December 10, with the listing targeting owner-occupiers and investors.

In recent years, Auckland has seen several second-hand bookstores close, including Dominion Books and Jason Books.