Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Moooving Made on Marion to Tory



We have moved our business! Back in April 2016, 17 Marion St was sold to a developer whose plans for it did not include us. So, we had to find an alternative space, and after a long and frustrating search, we hit the jackpot!! We are now open at 1/100 Tory St. This is right opposite Moore Wilson’s which is the Wellington foodie mecca, and super busy.
Moving 200sqm of accumulated stock and STUFF was no mean feat. And over the summer break too, when getting movers and skip suppliers and sorting out power and phone and internet was a heck of a ride. And our new shop needed to be gutted and refinished from two smaller spaces, too. By golly those tradies did a fantastic job. In five weeks they turned two cafes into one shop.
The top two shots are the corner cafe and the bottom two are the secret one tucked in beside it that is now mostly our studio
It was really sad saying goodbye to Marion St, where Golding Handcrafts opened in 1997, the fourth location since 1968 and our base for nearly five years, but it was very timely too – the November quake damaged parts of the Marion Square Parking building opposite us causing it to close, the Post Office to permanently close and several other businesses to close temporarily, and the pedestrian access from Cuba St to be cordoned off. Overnight it went from a vibrant hub of design activity to a ghost street.
This space has not been empty since 1997. MrC took these pics and as a result got sent back to retrieve the fabric in the right corner of the left photo! It has reels of thread on it, naturally...

So, every cloud has a silver lining for someone. And we have a clean, bright shop in a building that is very safe when the ground shakes, and is in an exciting and vibrant pocket of the city.
Some shots of our new space, featuring my sister Jo!
We could not have achieved this huge task without the army of volunteers who turned up to pack and then unpack. Thank you so much to you all: To Kim (and her husband’s muffins!), Polly, Zara, Angie, Julia, Debbie, Andrew, Richard, Emily, Richard, Jane, Leslie, Fiona, Chrissy, Jo, Zoe, Ron and Jenny, Kirsten, Leimomi, Karen, Karyn, Glenn, Mel, Lucille, Jehanne, Kat, Grace, Felix; you are all heroes xo

9 comments:

  1. Wow, that sounds like such a lot of hard work but I am sure it will be a blessing for your business. It must have been very bittersweet to say goodbye to your old space though but it looks like the right time. I hope that you are settling in well and that everything is back up and running. Here's to a prosperous and creative 2017! Xx

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    1. Oh but SO worth it. That's the thing about work, if there's a point to it we generally will put in a lot more effort. It's futility that is so exhausting. Already it is turning out to e a wonderful location, I am ver excited for the future xo

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  2. What a place! What a shop!! I can hear my sewing machine vibrating out of excitement!!! Fabulous... ahhh

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  3. Exciting times ahead! sounds like a stressful but ultimately positive move.

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    1. Oh it was SO worth it, we are all in love with the new space! Like a new baby after a difficult birth hehe

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  4. Congrats on the new space! It looks so bright and inviting and my fingers are itching to go digging around and see what you have there! Ah, if only you weren't so far away. <3 I'm glad you're all settled in - I hope you love your new little shop-home.

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    1. Oh Heather I feel the same way at enticing glimpses of yours! We should totally do a shop swap some time!

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