ABOUT PAPER PLUS HAWERA

Our Story

In 1926 Hawera welcomed Lester's Bookstore to town. 

The bookstore business that started in 1926 continues to this day. Different name, same business.

In 1967 Alan Hughson bought the three Lester's Bookstores that were in South Taranaki, retaining  the Hawera store, which he renamed  Hughson's Bookshop.

In 2017 we celebrated our 35th year in business. It's a milestone for the business. 

"We're still here and it just shows that our values, and customer orientation, have worked,"

The journey from Hughson's to Paper Plus began with Alan's son Bruce who started working in the store in 1979.

"I left school at 16 and went straight into my father's bookshop," Bruce said. 

During 1981 Alan and other bookstore owners met in Wellington to try to create a group that could strengthen small bookstores.  The group formed as Nationwide Stationers and was later re-named Paper Plus.

From here the business went from strength to strength.

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Then 1999 Dallas McCallum, who was working in the store, bought Paper Plus from Bruce. 

Dallas, the father of current owner Aaron, was the front of everything and his wife Janice was pedaling behind the scenes. 

Much like Bruce decades before, Aaron  started working in the family store at 16 years old in 2017 Aaron bought the business from his family. 

"It's like my parents, I'm the front, but my partner Jenny is the one who's pedaling," 

Our community is the main focus of our business, and always will be. 

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