Gift shop of goodies bucks online trend
The smell of lavender wafts out of Maree Henry’s gift shop, mixing with those of ground coffee and baked goods to create the unique aroma of Lyttelton’s main street.
Henry’s space is brimming with an eclectic mix of hand-picked goodies, from ceramics to natural skin products and children’s toys to flower presses and clothing. She sees the space as an extension of her home, just a short walk away.
While businesses around the country crumbled under the financial strain of the lockdown, Henry took a risk, effectively doubling the size of her store and solidifying her unwavering support in shopping local and the face-to-face shopping experience.
Henry Trading, on London St, focuses heavily on supporting Canterbury and national makers with trinkets, homewares and gifts. The common thread is quality, with ‘‘buy less, buy well’’ at the heart of her business ethos, she said.
Everything in Henry’s store is sourced organically, with Henry crediting her longstanding relationships with local makers for helping her track down the best products.
‘‘Once I got here I found the local sewers, the knitters, carpenters and artists. The people you need are all around if you just look for them.’’
Henry opened her first giftware shop Portico in 2007, a few doors down from the new Henry Trading space.
She cut her teeth with an apprenticeship in shopkeeping with Gregg Bramwell of Christchurch’s photographic retail institution Photo and Video International and moved to Lyttelton 20 years ago, opening Portico with a small inventory of carefully curated giftware.
‘‘I opened with hardly any stock and just started building things up, talking to people and becoming part of this community. Thinking about the locals, the people who wander past and nip in and going from there.’’
Portico moved to the London St location after the 2011 earthquake, and renamed Henry Trading in honour of Henry’s father.
Henry squeezed everything into the historic Mahars Drapery building, next to the busy Lyttelton Coffee Co cafe, sprucing the space up with fresh coat of mint green paint, bright white original pressed tin ceilings and sash windows with a harbour view at the back.
‘‘Being here, it’s all about word of mouth and creating relationships with people. I’m in the middle of nice people making nice things that nice people can enjoy. I’m just displaying it, providing a space for their things.’’
The lease for the space adjacent to Henry’s became available on April 1, a week after the country was locked down under alert level 4 and her sales had come to a standstill.
‘‘I felt really brave and really scared … we were watching what was happening overseas and nobody knew what was going to happen here but I just went for it.’’
After committing to the space, effectively doubling the size of the store, Henry then had to ‘‘sit tight’’, unable to bring her dream to life. As tradespeople began to renovate the new addition, she added a huge Oregon wood ledge as a centrepiece between the two formerly separate stores.
‘‘It was a bit of really crappy wood behind the working mens’ club and someone suggested putting it in as a ledge. It looked like a bit of macrocarpa from the garden but it came back like silk.
‘‘It’s the most beautiful piece of wood and it’s always been in Lyttelton, I really love that connection.’’
The connection to her customers is what Henry hopes will set her apart as the world rapidly moves online. Lockdown proved online shopping was ‘‘the way of the future’’, something she was slowly wrapping her head around, but there was nothing like coming in store for a nosy, she said.
Hand knitted jerseys made by Lyttelton local Pat Laird line her wooden shelves, stacked next to cream deodorants from awardwinning Lyttelton makers B Bold and locallymade artworks.
‘‘There’s a feeling in here, the smell of smoke lavender ... I stand here and I actually talk to people. I think that’s important.’’