Trek ‘n’ Travel going the extra distance
It was a happy sight on Hamilton’s main street the other day: several people sitting at a pavement table, tucking into a beautifully sculptured sponge cake, drinking coffee, clearly celebrating something.
This was not at a cafe´ , where you might expect to find such a gathering. Call me nosy but I stopped to find out what was going on. It was a 25th birthday morning tea for Trek ‘n’ Travel, the outdoor sports business in the CBD’s southend hospitality precinct, owned and operated by Scotsman-turnedKiwi Colin Hancock.
Hancock’s shop doors were wide open, and his landmark pink street piano was rolled out and begging to be played as he hosted the key people who’d supported him from the beginning. His family, staff, and some friends.
The impressive vanilla sponge was, of course, baked next door at The River Kitchen cafe, all part of the CBD networking that Hancock is known for.
By coincidence, earlier that morning I’d read some wearying online chatter about the CBD being a shocker place to find a car park. And why would you go there anyway, asked the downbeat chorus?
Hamilton Central Business Association general manager, Vanessa Williams, who was at Trek ‘n’ Travel’s morning tea, says you go to the CBD for destination shopping like Hancock’s. Where owners and staff genuinely want to help customers.
And, she says, there are thousands of car parks in the CBD, on the street (with the first two hours free) and in parking buildings.
She believes the supposed parking issue has a lot to do with perception: ‘‘For some bizarre reason people want to park directly outside the shop they are visiting in the CBD, or in a small catchment area, rather than three streets over.’’
The CBD’s been my shopping precinct all my life because I’m sold on its dedicated retailers – as described by Williams – who go the extra mile for service and originality.
If I’d had the skills to play an upbeat ‘‘Happy Birthday’’ on Hancock’s pink piano that morning, I’d have done so.
Instead, I returned a few days later to talk to him about his 25-year retail record, and his unwavering support for the CBD. He was at his pavement table, he’d just finished morning coffee from The River Kitchen, and he said that every city needs a heart and this is Hamilton’s heart. It’s where he wants to be.
‘‘The south-end is an amazing collection of people.’’
Last century, Hancock had been working in Hamilton for another outfit when he chose the south-end hospitality cluster for his retail venture, settling amid the cafes, bars and restaurants because it seemed to be the place where the discretionary dollars were spent.
He says that way back then
Hamilton had a reputation as being a tough gig to work, the place where big businesses sent their assistant managers as a kind of test of character, and if they made it in Hamilton they’d be okay anywhere.
Establishing the store was about perseverance, and developing personal trust among customers. Trek ‘n’ Travel is aimed at trampers, travellers, trail walkers and trail runners. Hancock sells instore and online, there is stiff competition from the big retail groups in the outdoor market and he’s had some bumpy times, ‘‘but that’s what business is about’’. He tries not to listen to the economists too much, and following the uncertainty of the Covid years he says that (fortunately) there are still people who want to get out and
Colin Hancock
enjoy the bush, and to travel.
After the lockdowns, he was particularly touched by the customers who chose not to accept the discounts they were due through being members of tramping clubs and similar. This is what he means about building loyalty and mutual respect.
Although he sometimes hears negative views about the CBD, he says that some people would find a problem with the likes of Paris if they lived there.
While Hancock’s talking, a young woman peels off from a group of youths; she sits on the stool at his pink piano and rattles out a tune. She’s completely absorbed as she fumbles, starts again, and finally gets to the heart of it.
Hancock got the piano more than a decade ago after a visiting expert on urban spaces said that a city was made of people, not councils, and he challenged Hamilton retailers on what they could do to enhance the life of their CBD.
Hancock knew someone who’d seen pavement pianos on London’s famous Carnaby St, and it gave him the idea of having one at Trek ‘n’ Travel. The first piano came from an op shop and when that clapped out a friend gave him another one. A former staff member from The River Kitchen painted it pink. ‘‘Even those who plonk on it walk away with a smile on their face,’’ says Hancock. ‘‘We want people to browse, to slow down, and enjoy the city.’’
The piano has many takers: he mentions a woman who was sadly compromised by drugs but would stop and play the piano. Out of somewhere, he says, there would always be a tune.
Over the years Hancock’s had street people sleeping in his shop doorway and he says initially he was peeved by this. But he dug deeper and developed a greater understanding that street people are human beings who’ve been dealt some bad blows in life. He admires the work of City Safe staff, and people from various agencies who support the rough sleepers and others.
It’s time to get back to work and in a quick change of tempo he’s behind the counter of his store, discussing tramping packs and boots with a long-time customer. The Trek ‘n’ Travel official motto is ‘‘Going the Distance’’ and Hancock does this every day in the CBD.
I did a little plinkety-plonk on the pink piano as I departed and, just like the man said, I walked away with a smile on my face.
‘‘We want people to browse, to slow down, and enjoy the city.’’
Denise Irvine is a Hamilton freelance journalist and food writer, and a regular Waikato Times contributor.