Xanadu Book Exchange is one of Pāpāmoa’s best-kept secrets - a warehouse-scale second-hand bookstore tucked away in an industrial estate on Ashley Place, announced from the street by a bright yellow awning. Owner Briar Simons started selling books at the Greerton weekend markets before the collection outgrew her car, then outgrew Domain Road, and eventually landed at its current home in Pāpāmoa East where she signed a long-term lease.
The store is enormous. Briar estimates it holds around 10 million books at any time, with a further 12 storage containers of stock waiting to be rotated in. Around 8,000 books arrive every fortnight. The shelves are organised alphabetically, making it genuinely browsable rather than a chaotic jumble. There is a separate premises about 50 metres away for jigsaws and additional stock, and Briar also runs a café nearby at 29 Ashley Place.
No book costs more than $5 - even titles still retailing elsewhere for $40+. Stock is colour-coded by price bracket. Alongside books there are DVDs, CDs, vinyl records and games. Two cockatiels in cages greet visitors at the entrance. It is the only dedicated second-hand bookstore remaining in the Bay of Plenty and attracts customers from across New Zealand and internationally, almost entirely by word of mouth. Xanadu has no website and a minimal Facebook presence.
“One of the great New Zealand book shops - enormous selection, everything under $5, and organised well enough to actually find things. Worth a detour.”
“We drove from Hamilton specifically to visit. Briar is wonderful and the sheer scale of the place is hard to believe until you’re standing in it. We left with two bags.”