Luxury Italian Furniture Showroom Offers Contemporary Designs In Newmarket
The furniture in Newmarket showroom features products from leading Italian brands such as Cattelan Italia, Nicoline, Lago, Himolla, and Eforma. Each item is 100% designed and made in Italy, with most products covered by a 20-year warranty. The store's collection includes dining tables, chairs, sofas, beds, wall units, lighting, and accessories. In addition to imported items, Ultimate Living offers bespoke cabinetry solutions, including wall units, wardrobes, and entertainment units, crafted locally.
Ultimate Living is recognised as a destination for Auckland designer furniture, catering to clients seeking modern aesthetics and high-quality craftsmanship. The Newmarket showroom allows visitors to view and experience the full range of products, including four German kitchens on display. The company also serves customers throughout New Zealand, with online ordering available for those outside the Auckland region.
The showroom is located at 96d Carlton Gore Road, Newmarket, Auckland, and is open seven days a week. Ultimate Living's team assists customers with furniture selection, space planning, and custom design requirements. Further information about collections, brands, and services can be found on the company's website.
For enquiries, the showroom can be contacted by phone or email, and free parking is available for visitors behind the premises.
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NZ Herald
19 hours ago
- NZ Herald
For a decade, a Chinese tailor worked 13-hour days making high-end garments near Milan
The crackdown, led by Milan's corporate court and the labour-crimes unit of the Carabinieri military police, has snared contractors linked to five well-known fashion labels including Valentino, Armani, and Dior. Loro Piana, owned by French luxury powerhouse LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, became the latest last week, and was placed under court supervision for up to a year. 'There is already a reputational issue in the fashion industry, which started with prices spiralling unreasonably,' said Stefania Saviolo, a lecturer on fashion and luxury management at Milan's Bocconi University. 'These investigations not only damage the brands involved, they affect all of Made in Italy as a system.' Loro Piana, part of LVMH since 2013, denied wrongdoing and said it will co-operate with authorities. The company said it terminated relations with the supplier within 24 hours of being informed of the contractors' existence. The fragmented, mostly family run structure of high-quality Italian manufacturing 'can pose challenges in transparency and oversight', said Toni Belloni, president of LVMH Italy. The group has strengthened controls and revised its internal charter, he said in a statement to Bloomberg News. 'However, areas of fragility remain, so we must work to improve our practices.' The fashion industry is one of Italy's biggest, accounting for about €96 billion worth of Made in Italy products in 2024, according to industry group Camera Nazionale della Moda. The vast majority are destined for overseas markets. Yet the tailor's case shines a light on the treatment of workers who make garments that can cost thousands. He worked from 9am to 10pm daily through to late 2024, when his 'caporale', or boss - also a Chinese migrant - stopped paying him for unknown reasons, according to the court documents. After repeated demands for his wages, a confrontation ensued. The employer punched the tailor and beat him repeatedly with an aluminium tube, the documents said, leading to a criminal complaint. Persistent Lapses Past enforcement efforts have failed to stamp out labour abuses. 'These cases have been increasing in the last few years, with more big groups taking control of smaller Italian companies and starting outsourcing part of the production,' said Roberta Griffini, secretary for the Filctem CGIL Milano union. Responsibility is sometimes hard to determine because subcontractors work for more than one fashion group, Griffini added. Britain has also cracked down on illegal sweatshops, particularly small factories operating in cities such as Leicester. A 2021 United Kingdom report found companies in numerous industries couldn't guarantee their supply chains were free from forced labour. For fashion producers in Italy, the supply chain should be short and closely monitored, said Saviolo of Bocconi University. Younger consumers in particular are paying more attention to brand credibility. Milan is the locus of the sprawling fashion industry in Italy, housing about one-fourth of the nation's 600,000 fashion workers across some 60,000 companies, according to Camera Nazionale della Moda. The Lombardy region's dense ecosystem of design studios, tanneries, and sample makers gives brands unrivalled speed but also shelters what prosecutors called 'a generalised manufacturing method' in which legitimate subcontractors parcel out work to micro-factories operating from converted garages and semi-legal industrial parks. Chinese-owned firms make up a significant part of this complex. About 20% of Lombardy's 10,000-plus textile workshops and factories are Chinese-owned, according to Milan's Chamber of Commerce. The area has drawn a large number of Chinese immigrants, driven by small-business opportunities, globalisation of the fashion industry, and growing family ties. A Loro Piana SpA label on a cashmere pullover. Photo / Alessia Pierdomenico, Bloomberg via the Washington Post Falling Sales The judicial clampdown in Italy is unfolding against a jittery global backdrop, with demand falling and a United States-led tariff war threatening to magnify export costs. The personal luxury-goods industry, worth €364b, lost 50 million customers in 2023 and 2024, Bain estimated last year. The sector will shrink between 2% and 5% this year, according to the consulting firm's June follow-up. Italy's fashion industry was already grappling with falling sales, inflation and international tensions. Brands squeezed by softer demand and volatile costs have doubled down on 'near-shoring' quick orders to Lombardy's workshop belt to protect margins. That very strategy, say prosecutors, is fuelling the race to the bottom that the courts are now trying to halt. Investigators traced Loro Piana's knitwear to intermediaries which subcontracted to factories where illegal migrants worked 90 hours a week and slept next to their sewing machines. The judges said the firm 'negligently benefitted' from illegal cost-cutting. The judicial administrator appointed last week is tasked with monitoring Loro Piana management's progress towards addressing its supply chain. The issues have been similar at other luxury brands, including Giorgio Armani Operations, Dior Manufactures, Valentino Bags Lab and Alviero Martini: opaque layers of small subcontractors, paper safety records, and a workforce of mostly undocumented Chinese migrants. Armani, Dior, and Alviero Martini were released of court oversight after implementing measures such as real-time supplier audits. The unit of Valentino, which is majority owned by Mayhoola of Qatar alongside partner Kering SA, is still subject to court monitoring. The Italian Competition Authority has also been involved. In May it closed an unfair-practices probe into Dior, securing €2 million in funds for anti-exploitation initiatives and requiring the company to improve supplier vetting. Dior, also part of the LVMH orbit, noted then that no infringement was established, and said it is dedicated to high standards of ethics and excellence. Armani Group, still under investigation by the competition authority over alleged unfair commercial practices, said the allegations have no merit and its companies are co-operating with authorities. Greater co-ordination In Milan, co-ordination has tightened with an accord in May between the Milan Prefecture, the fashion chamber, trade unions, and leading brands. The pact sets up a shared database of vetted suppliers and commits signatories to regular certifications. The outcome of the Loro Piana case for now rests with updates to the bench on its progress. LVMH's Belloni said the group had carried out more than 5000 audits in Italy and introduced a stronger control body. While the prefect's new protocol is a 'building block', deeper change will take time and a more collective effort is needed, he said. As for the tailor, the Milan prosecutor is now trying to get him hired legally, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing a personal matter. This would require the employer to make pension contributions, pay taxes, and provide standard benefits. - With assistance from Antonio Vanuzzo, Deirdre Hipwell and Angelina Rascouet.
Newsroom
4 days ago
- Newsroom
Why Auckland's 2027 America's Cup bid never stood a chance
Auckland's unsuccessful five-month bid to secure the hosting rights for the 2027 America's Cup appears to have been doomed almost before negotiations started with the Government. Documents released to Newsroom show that Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown's insistence that the Government allow his council to bring in a hotel bed levy as a funding source, was an early and significant hurdle. The Government had already refused the bed levy request, and Auckland's failure to have any other way of co-funding the event was highlighted repeatedly in advice to Cabinet ministers from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). The city's hopes to stage the 38th cup regatta were extinguished on April 1, when Auckland Council's culture and economic agency announced the Government had declined to co-fund it. Following the failure to strike a deal with Auckland and the Government for 2027, the cup defender sold the hosting rights to the Italian port city of Naples. Team New Zealand had revived hopes of a 2027 home defence in October 2024, soon after winning the cup for a third consecutive time in Barcelona. Documents sought by Newsroom from the council agency Tataki Auckland Unlimited, and MBIE, show a five-month negotiation that began with enthusiasm, but that soon ran into difficulty. Four months into that process, Grant Dalton, the chief executive of Team New Zealand, expressed frustration that no one from the Government had been in touch with him. It was 10 days after Team New Zealand's unprecedented third consecutive cup win, that Auckland officials began moves to secure the 38th running of an event the city had last hosted in 2021. Barcelona hosted the 37th cup, after the Labour-led government and Auckland Council, which backed the 2021 Auckland regatta, made an offer to Team New Zealand that fell short of the defender's needs and was rejected. Unusually, Dalton began talking about what a post-Barcelona future might look like, even before the team had secured the Auld Mug in late 2024. At first, Auckland didn't seem to be a part of it. 'Whether New Zealand could host the (next) Cup would be for politicians to decide and make a bid, rather than the team actively seeking a deal,' he told Stuff in a September interview. But on October 27 more than a week after victory, Dalton told this writer, in Barcelona, that confidential talks were underway to explore a joint public-private sector hosting bid in Auckland. 'We are completely genuine in terms of – if we can get this (event) home, we will,' he said. Two days later, inside Auckland Council's culture and economy agency, that work began under a code name. 'We will refer to it from now on as the 'Special Project' or SPWG, rather than the America's Cup,' wrote Tataki's head of major events Michelle Hooper to a chosen group of 10 agency staff on October 29. 'There is stiff competition from other cities to host this event, so we need to move swiftly and with focus to pull together a winning bid to present to Team New Zealand,' Hooper wrote. Tataki Auckland Unlimited (TAU) met in person with Dalton and his chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge a month later. Notes prepared by TAU have all dollar references redacted, but noted 'there is potential private sector funding interest from a consortium of wealthy benefactors to the tune of (blacked out).' 'This sum could be doubled with the right structure, support and campaign, based on discussions with the representative of this group,' said TAU. Newsroom understands the hope was that private backers could provide as much as half of the media-reported hosting sum of $150 million. Barcelona's late and successful hosting bid for the 2024 cup was made possible only when wealthy individuals in just 15 days agreed to underwrite $44.8 million of revenue, kickstarting the formal bid. TAU provided 'high-level' information to MBIE in November and more detail in December, outlining the case for hosting, and some of the key elements in a bid. All the infrastructure was already in place in Auckland, said the local officials, following the investment made for the 2021 Cup, creating space for bases and public viewing. A total of $348.4m of ratepayer and taxpayer money went into permanent infrastructure on Auckland's waterfront, and event-running costs. A TAU briefing prepared for Cabinet ministers in December 2024 doesn't reveal the hosting fee sought by Team New Zealand, but Newsroom understands it was around $40m. An initial cost-benefit analysis commissioned by TAU put the net benefit at up to $1.19 for Auckland, for each dollar invested, and up to $1.15 at a national level. The briefing also outlines what would soon appear to become a significant hurdle for MBIE and the Government. 'The mayor is clear that Auckland's financial contribution is dependent on the introduction of a visitor levy,' said TAU. Brown appeared to be using the cup hosting as a lever to get government approval for a nightly bed levy – something the government had already ruled out. Under Brown, Auckland Council significantly reduced ratepayer funding for major events, in the expectation the government would agree. Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is adamant the Government allow his council to bring in a hotel bed levy as a funding source. Photo montage:Before TAU's first detailed pitch went before Cabinet ministers, MBIE's Kylie Hawker-Green wrote back to the Auckland officials to ensure she would be accurately conveying the city's stance on its funding contribution. 'I will be stating that Auckland's cash contribution is contingent on the establishment of an accommodation levy of some form being established prior to the event delivery window,' she put to TAU. She intended to tell ministers that: 'If no accommodation levy is established, Auckland Council will not be in a position to contribute a direct cash contribution to AC38.' Two days later, Hawker-Green presented a 23-page briefing to the Major Events Ministers Group, made up of eight ministers, Sport and Recreation's Chris Bishop, Melissa Lee for Economic Development, Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, Minister for Auckland Simeon Brown, Paul Goldsmith for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Trade Minister Todd McClay, and Tourism and Hospitality's Matt Doocey. Hawker-Green outlined Auckland's dependence on a future bed levy, under a section entitled. 'Funding sources are highly speculative'. To that same meeting, TAU argued benefits that would flow into the marine and technology sectors concluding the event would 'provide Auckland and New Zealand with an unparalleled opportunity to showcase its marine and technology prowess'. 'By hosting the event, Auckland cements its position as a world-class destination for innovation, sport sustainable technologies and cultural celebration.' A potential event programme submitted to MBIE by TAU in November 2024, outlined cup events in Auckland spanning a year, from a women's and a men's regatta in February 2026, through to the challenger series and the cup itself from October 2026 to almost March 2027. The December ministerial briefing paper included MBIE's 'preliminary views' such as this fleeting reference to the upsides of hosting. 'Crown investment in an event of this significance and scale presents a strong signal of New Zealand's ability and willingness to host mega events and would catalyse direct economic activity for Auckland.' A subsequent MBIE paper from February 12, 2025, included an ominous line about that multi-minister briefing. 'Pre-Christmas engagement on the opportunity drew mixed views from the MEMG (Major Events Ministers Group). MBIE's advice to ministers in a range of papers provided to Newsroom, highlights what it saw as risks, and downsides for the Government. Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown's insistence that the city be allowed to introduce a nightly bed levy was repeatedly cited as a hurdle. 'Local government investment remains unconfirmed,' was one sub-heading on a topic MBIE officials would underline repeatedly. The other cash problem was that the undisclosed amount being sought from the Government's coffers outstripped what was available in its Major Events budget, where some money was already ring-fenced for unnamed possible events. 'The Crown would need to establish a new appropriation to provide investment in the AC38,' wrote officials in a March 4 briefing. In short, the Government had no earmarked funds available, nor had Auckland Council. On February 28, TAU lodged a formal application for Major Events funding with MBIE. Along with the formal document, the Auckland agency forwarded an email it had received from a clearly frustrated Grant Dalton. 'To date, in the four months since Emirates Team New Zealand won the America's Cup, I/we have not had any direct contact or indication at all from central government level (PM, ministers or even MBIE) if they are even interested in the America's Cup being hosted in Auckland,' Dalton wrote. 'It is of paramount importance and necessity to have a firm indication from the Government on the extent of their desire to host AC38 before this can progress any further with meaningful direction.' 'In response' noted an MBIE ministerial update on March 4, 'the Minister for Sport and Recreation (by then, Mark Mitchell) contacted Mr Dalton directly to discuss the Crown's consideration of the investment opportunity.' Dalton had wanted faster progress, and had told TAU in late 2024 that if a business case for local hosting was submitted by the end of that year, he would halt negotiations with other potential venues, until the bid process concluded. Seemingly unaware of the skeptical tone in MBIE's briefings, TAU was pressing on. On March 25 it asked the ministry to agree to a timeline in which the Government's decision on funding would be made by April 18. But by the time that email from TAU's Michelle Hooper landed in MBIE's inbox, the hosting bid was dead. A week earlier, in the MBIE briefing to the Minister of Finance, and Economic Growth, Nicola Willis, the ministry said: 'Noting ETNZ's upcoming end of April 2025 deadline, the significant risk around Auckland not having identified a funding source, and the opportunity cost of an investment of this quantum in the present economic climate, we present two options for you to consider'. Willis chose the second: 'instruct officials to cease work on the proposition now, noting risks, and advise TAU accordingly.' On February 21, four days before Hooper's last nudge to MBIE, Willis' private secretary emailed the ministry: 'The minister has signed the paper (attached), agreeing to cease work and notify TAU.' The final six-page paper from the ministry to Willis – which presumably outlines the final view on the merits of funding a cup hosting – has been withheld from Newsroom, by MBIE. Over the following week, much of the material released by MBIE to Newsroom, is about the preparation of a communications plan around the decision being announced. On March 27, MBIE's chief executive Carolyn Tremain broke the news to TAU's chief executive Nick Hill in a phone call, who then told Dalton. The formal letter from the Government came the following day. 'We acknowledge that events like the America's Cup can deliver a range of significant benefits,' wrote Tremain. 'However, Auckland Council's contribution was based on the introduction of a new 'accommodation levy' or similar funding mechanism, which is not a priority for this Government,' she wrote. 'Additionally, the investment risk would require government to identify and ring-fence new money at the expense of other funding priorities such as health and education.' In a statement publicly ending the hosting hopes, TAU's Hill wrote: 'This situation again illustrates the need for a long-term sustainable funding model in New Zealand to support major events.' A month later, further underlining Auckland's shrunken funding for major events, Hill in a memo to local politicians, informed them that an advanced bid to host the Gay Games had been strapped, and a lean funding pipeline also put at risk Lions rugby tours in 2027 and 2029, and an ICC Tour cricket World Cup in 2028. Team New Zealand continues to negotiate with challengers, to agree a protocol – a set of event and design rules – for the Naples cup regatta in 2027.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Scoop
The Heart Of The Community: Family-Owned Bakeries & Delis
You walk into a family-owned bakery or deli, and you instantly notice that it's different than a well-known chain. The air is scented with fresh bread, cookies, or deli meats, and the way that people greet you feels warm. They're more than just a place to grab a sandwich or pastry. They are a fixture in the community. Mom-and-pop bakeries and delis often start with a dream. Perhaps a parent or grandparent opened shop years ago with recipes handed down through the generations. Those dishes become community favorites, and the store becomes a local tradition. Family members toil side by side to keep the business running, and customers learn the owners' first names. One of the things that separates these businesses from larger corporate-owned operations is the personal touch. The food is often lovingly made by hand. Whether it's a loaf of sourdough or a homemade lasagna, the quality is often superior to what you can buy in larger stores. The fact that customers can ask questions, request custom orders, or even be advised on what to serve at a party doesn't hurt either. In a mom-and-pop shop, folks are more than just customers. Everyone is family. These small businesses provide jobs in the neighborhood. They typically hire from within their region, buy produce and other foods from local farmers and suppliers, and participate in activities like school fund-raisers, festivals, and food drives. Many give food to the needy or provide meals to close neighbors whom they know in trying times. Their presence lends to a feeling of connectivity that far transcends food. Family-run bakeries and delis also ensure that culture and tradition are preserved. In neighborhoods with immigrant heritage, you can frequently find shops selling old-world wonders such as Polish pierogi, Italian cannoli, or Mexican pan dulce. These businesses educate the next generation about their heritage and offer the rest of the community an opportunity to try something new and delicious. But it's not always easy. Small, family-run stores are already battling against big grocery chains and online meal providers. Rising costs, long hours, and the difficulty of keeping up with trends can make it difficult to remain open. That's why supporting those neighborhood businesses is so important. When you buy from an independent bakery or deli, you're also buying into a dream. It's a way to support neighbors who rise early, to bake bread, slice meat, and, yes, greet you with a smile. Your purchase helps cover their kids' school, their rent, and the next batch of cookies. In a world that continues going faster and feels more digital with each passing day, family-owned bakeries and delis remind us of something crucial: food has the power to bring us together. It can help tell a story, foster a bond, and make a place feel like home. So the next time you're hankering for a sandwich or something sweet, think about stepping into your neighborhood bakery or deli. Odds are, you won't just come away with a meal. You'll come away with a memory.
