Muirs Bookshop: A Gisborne Original Since 1905
Muirs Bookshop, Gisborne
Location: Muirs Bookshop 136B Gladstone Road, Gisborne 4010
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm; Saturday, 10am to 2pm; Sunday closed.
Phone: 06 867 9741
Website: www.muirsbookshop.co.nz
Established: 1905, more than 120 years of bookselling in Gisborne
Appeals to: Book lovers, independent-shop enthusiasts, history buffs, families, gift hunters, curious travellers and anyone who enjoys discovering something unexpected.
120 Years of Stories, and Still Turning Pages
Some businesses become part of a town's identity.
Others come and go, leaving little more than an empty shopfront.
Then there's Muirs Bookshop.
Established in 1905, Muirs has been selling books in Gisborne for more than 120 years.
That's two world wars, countless economic ups and downs, the arrival of television, the internet, online shopping and the age of the e-book.
And through it all, Gisborne has kept its independent bookshop.
In a retail world increasingly dominated by national chains, algorithms and warehouses, there's something rather satisfying about that.
Muirs isn't a branch of some distant corporate empire.
It's a proper independent bookshop, with its own personality, knowledgeable people and a surprisingly extensive selection.
And perhaps that's why it feels so perfectly Gisborne.
Small City, Surprisingly Big Bookshelf
Don't be fooled by Gisborne's relatively modest population.
Muirs has long offered the sort of book selection you might expect to find in a much larger city.
There are the latest bestsellers, of course, but the real pleasure is discovering everything else. Literary fiction, gripping crime novels, biographies, history, cookbooks, children's adventures and those slightly unusual titles you didn't know you were looking for.
It's the sort of place where you pop in for a quick browse and emerge considerably later, clutching a book you hadn't planned to buy.
The staff are part of the attraction. People who actually read books, enjoy talking about them and can recommend something beyond whatever happens to be topping the bestseller charts.
That's a fairly rare commodity these days.
A Little Piece of Gisborne History
Muirs began life in 1905 when Charles Muir established a bookselling and stationery business associated with the Gisborne Herald.
An advertisement in the Poverty Bay Herald dated 2 October 1905 was already promoting new books, stationery, postcards and artwork from Muir's premises in the Herald Buildings.
That's a rather wonderful connection to Gisborne's past, and one that can still be traced through the National Library's historical newspaper archives.
Generations of Gisborne families have since passed through Muirs' doors.
Many locals will remember its former premises at 62 Gladstone Road, complete with the much-loved upstairs café and balcony overlooking the main street.
In 2024, the bookshop moved further into the city centre to its present location at 136B Gladstone Road.
The café may have become part of Gisborne nostalgia, but the books, personal service and independent spirit remain.
Refreshingly Independent. Unmistakably Gisborne.
There's a particular pleasure in exploring a city through its independently owned businesses.
They tell you something about the place that shopping malls and chain stores seldom can.
Muirs is one of those businesses.
It doesn't need to be enormous or flashy.
Its appeal is the carefully chosen books, the conversations, the sense of discovery and the reassuring fact that Gisborne still supports a business with genuine history and character.
It also makes a rather good antidote to a day spent staring at a screen.
After all, Gisborne may be famous for sunshine, beaches and surf, but there's more to the Gisborne lifestyle than sand between your toes.
Sometimes it's simply about finding a good book, slowing down and enjoying the moment.
Why Visitors Should Pop In
If you're wandering along Gladstone Road, make time for Muirs.
It's an opportunity to discover a genuine Gisborne institution, pick up something interesting for the journey, find a thoughtful gift or introduce the kids to the pleasure of choosing their own books.
And if you leave with more reading material than you intended?
Well, there are worse things to take home from a Gisborne holiday.
Muirs Bookshop has been part of Gisborne since 1905. More than 120 years later, it's still giving locals and visitors a very good reason to turn the page.
