Arty Bees Books is a family-run, independent bookstore nestled in the heart of Wellington City, Aotearoa, New Zealand. The business began in 1988 when Bob Burch, (a 60 year old ‘redundant’ worker and short time flying instructor during WWII) bought a small bookshop in Cuba St and six months later, a second shop in Cambridge Terrace. The business was named Arty Bees Books, a play on Bob’s initials – RTB. This was the beginning of a family business now run by his daughter, Pippa.
Over the years, Arty Bees has had many iterations but is now settled into the current location in Manners Street, the city’s largest retailer of pre-loved, new and rare books. On its shelves sit over 80,000 titles ranging from the obvious to the outright bizarre with a specialized interest in the areas of Science Fiction and Fantasy, New Zealand Fiction and Non-Fiction, and the Rare and Antiquarian. At the shop 30th birthday celebrations in 2018, Pippa celebrated her staff – the people who turn a space full of books into the Arty Bees we know today. The 7 current staff members have collectively worked for Arty Bees for over 95 years! The longest serving staff are Matt, who has been with Arty Bees for 27 years, Jess for 21 1/2 years and Wendy for 19 years.
“As a business whose core purpose is to recycle pre-loved items, we know that we are not just filling up the world with more consumer junk. Books have a life of their own that we think transcends the clutter of the modern lifestyle.”
Now Arty Bees Books, in its latest incarnation, offers an ever-increasing number of its books online! Browse the Catalogues or send a Book Query if you can’t find what you’re searching for. We can also add your name to the Want’s List when you are looking for a book we currently don’t have.