Escape from no sea to surf shop
"Surfing just happened and I haven't looked back." Logan Gieni
Canadian-born business owners Logan and Marli Gieni never saw the ocean until they were in their 20s.
Now they run a surf shop and Escape Coffee Roasters, in the centre of New Plymouth.
The couple were brought up in Saskatchewan, on the Canadian prairies, which meant a 22 hour drive to the nearest coastline at Vancouver.
They both lived close to water and spent time fishing, water skiing or windsurfing on several of the 30,000 lakes which dot the vast region, but the first time Logan saw the sea was when he flew from California on his way to Japan at 21.
The couple first met when Marli rented Logan’s house while he was on one of his surfing holidays in Australia.
Ten years ago Logan ventured out to New Zealand and sprang upon Taranaki’s renowned surf breaks.
Surfing ‘‘just happened’’ and he has not looked back, he said.
He went back to Canada and persuaded Marli, a trained speech therapist, to return with him to New Plymouth.
Initially they lived in a house bus on the outskirts of New Plymouth and operated a stall selling coffee and ice cream near the Wind Wand sculpture on the city’s foreshore.
Marli worked for the Ministry of Education helping young pre-school children with communication difficulties.
‘‘We didn’t really know how we were going to start a business, or what sort of business it would be,’’ she said.
Two years later they found a market niche and moved into a two-storey building on the corner of Gill and Liardet Streets.
They have now been in the building for five years, tinkering away at different ventures from retailing surf boards, wetsuits, clothing and paraphernalia to offering yoga lessons and roasting organic coffee beans.
The emphasis of the Escape business is healthy and holistic, not just a cafe, they say.
‘‘Not a lot of people are doing plant based food,’’ Marli said.
‘‘This is what we want to achieve to make more people aware of the healthy options available.
‘‘We like to give a relaxed type of service and remember our customers wants and needs when they come to order.’’
The coffee roasting enterprise has grown into a full time cafe to cater for staff from nearby offices and workshops.
The cafe also sells its own organic plant based snacks, cold pressed juices and kombucha, using locally produced ingredients.
There is also a skate bowl, and community bike repair outlet to which they donate the leased space. They organised a disc golf frisbee competition, and they host regular live music gigs. Recently they partnered with the owners of the Holy Guacamole food truck to lease floor space on Liardet St to serve Mexican style lunches.
They have also just begun employing staff through a youth employment training scheme.
‘‘New Plymouth had definitely changed heaps since we first arrived,’’ Logan said.
‘‘Being in business here you have to ride the ebbs and flows because the local economy is a little determined by the oil and gas industry.
‘‘But there is a growing base of people moving and working here who are not involved in the industry.
‘‘The new roading project at Mt Messenger has brought a new crew of people to the city to work.’’