Seamstress cutting ties to shop
A love of sewing has been the major thread of Lesley Rowe’s life.
She took up the hobby at the age of seven and has used her skills to fashion hundreds of garments from her fabric store in Taranaki. But after 40 years of ownership, Rowe is preparing to cut ties to her shop, Classic Fabrics, which has been a mainstay on Waitara’s McLean St for decades.
Rowe bought the business in 1978 from then owner Alma Gilbert.
As a keen seamstress Rowe was a regular customer of the store and one day Gilbert asked her if she was interested in buying more than just a measure of fabric. She mulled the offer for a while before deciding to take on the business, which subsequently consumed her life for four decades.
For the first 22 years the business was run out of rented premises on the other side of McLean St until she moved 18 years ago to its current location.
For 24 years, Rowe employed another worker and for much of that time the business was heavily involved in dressmaking.
While her decision to close the business was due to personal reasons, the recent influence of the big retailers and a move to online shopping habits had been felt in terms of a drop-off of customers. ‘‘The little town has lost the foot traffic,’’ she said of Waitara.
Rowe said it had been her loyal customers who ‘‘made’’ the business.
She also said it was her own family – husband Graeme and three children – which she credited in supporting her to run the business.
She looked forward to spending more time with them, and on their Motunui farm, when Classic Fabrics’ doors shut for the final time at the end of this month.