2 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Well-known Rangiora retailer moves to Sydenham
The Fabric of Society's owner Emily Rowse, centre, with her dog Lilou and some of her staff members, Michelle Hewett, left, and Vicki Hazlett, taking a break from packing for the move to Sydenham. PHOTO: SHELLEY TOPP
A former Rangiora policewoman, who transformed her love of fabrics and homeware into a popular business in a residential area, has moved her shop to Christchurch.
The Fabric of Society, which is owned by Emily Rowse, has begun trading at 6 Carlyle St in Sydenham, ending a long connection with its former Rangiora premises at 15 Coronation St.
''After many years in Rangiora we are thrilled to now call Sydenham home,'' Emily says.
''It is a vibrant design-forward neighbourhood that perfectly matches our aesthetic.''
The decision to move the business was made because Emily now lives in Christchurch, as do all of her staff.
The move means the new shop will also be much closer to a larger population base of potential customers, not that trading in Rangiora was decreasing, as many of Emily's customers from around Canterbury told her they loved coming to Rangiora to shop.
However, with the Chinese online marketplace behemoth Temu now offering a huge range of heavily discounted items, which is providing an irresistible lure for many shoppers, trading for all community-based retailers, such as The Fabric of Society, is becoming extremely challenging, Emily says.
With this in mind, she wishes that consumers would consider the possible unintended consequences of such big support for online overseas shopping, which is the demise of retail businesses based in communities like Rangiora.
She also wishes that consumers would consider the benefits of supporting retailers in their local communities, where the money they spend will not go overseas.
The Fabric of Society began in July 2006 as Femme de Brocante, ''a made-up French saying that loosely translated means women who like old things'', upstairs in the Gables Arcade in Rangiora's High St before moving to the bigger space in Coronation St in 2009.
The business was established to fill a gap in the market for affordable, designer fabrics and homeware from New Zealand, France and other nations worldwide.
Emily took over Femme de Brocante in 2018 and decided it was a good time to also change the name of her business.
''Even my friends didn't know what Femme de Brocante meant,'' she says.
