Another good Wellington bookshop: Arty Bees, who stock some new books, esp. science fiction/fantasy, along with their big second-hand collection - now consolidated on two floors at their Manners' St site.

This is really sad. Bruce and his staff have all worked so hard and are so knowledgeable regarding their stock. Their exceptional standard of service is rare and not to be found anywhere else in Wellington. This shop will be very much missed.

This absolutely breaks my heart. I worked at Dymocks part and full time for approximately six years. Dymocks Wellington was the most amazing bookstore, Bruce and Janis are wonderful people and I loved being on their team for all those years. I heard about this a couple of days ago , I am travelling at the moment and thinking that Dymocks Wellington won't be there when I get home made me cry on a Bolivian bus. All the staff, my friends, and Bruce and Janis, I can't believe this has happened....

I'm really sorry to hear that Dymocks has closed. Good luck to those of you who will be on the job hunt. Having left Wellington for London at the end of last year, I think it will a little different when I come back.

Re: price of books in NZ - yes, they are a lot more expensive than here in the UK. I understand shipping costs can add a lot to the price but when a £7 book costs $25-30 in NZ, it really is too high.

Totally gutted, this is such a shame. This was my favourite bookshop. Awesome staff, especially my mate Mark, who has a huge amount of knowledge and a real passion for books. You should know that there are many people out there who are very shocked and will miss Dymocks very much. All the best to all of the staff and thanks very much for providing us with such a great shop.

On the bright side there are still wonderful bookstores like our friends Unity Books. The staff there are wonderful, I'm not sure what their SF/Fan section is like, nor have I perused their graphic novels, but they are wonderful, intelligent and helpful people. Treasure them I tells ya! Also Parsons and Capital are great too just as James 18# posted. For kids books there is the Childern's bookshop in Kilbirnie and there is a great little shop in Petone that sells just cookbooks. :-) Pat Shortley #29, I fear you are right. Sad. I always enjoy the browsing and the hunting for books...

@redsfan #4

Yep, Whitcoulls sure is better, if you like dumbed down mass-market blah that is.

Sad to lose another of my destination stores, best of luck to the employees

Are you buying fewer books than you used to? Do you baulk at the price of new books in New Zealand? Do you buy books from overseas or `online only' retailers? Do you buy books from big box department stores, supermarkets or other retailers whose primary business is not bookselling? If you answered yes to some or all of the above you are not alone. So it's not so hard to see why bookshops (in the true sense) are falling over. It's an international trend and will almost certainly continue as long as we encourage it.

This is really unfortunate news. It was a great bookshop, well set-out, wide-ranging stock and informed staff. Such a contrast to the B word shop which has loud music, limited selection (except their children's books) and seems to rely on bargain bulk buys as if books are tins of baked beans ( 4 for the price of 3) and glossy coffee table books which are nice to browse but not necessary stimulating to the brain.

Another victim of Aussie dominance. Sad, very sad.