With a lovely new store in Newmarket and great staff, things were looking good for Starfish. Then Christchurch happened. However, the fashion gods decided to smile sweetly upon Laurie Foon and her label, and give them a site in Ponsonby…
After opening their store in Newmarket earlier this year, Starfish looked like they were quietly establishing themselves here in Auckland.
With a lovely new store and great staff, things were looking good. Then Christchurch happened and things in the Starfish universe were looking not so great.
However, the fashion gods decided to smile sweetly upon Laurie Foon and her label Starfish, and give them a site in Ponsonby.
Though Laurie tells me this was always on the cards (Ponsonby and Starfish are a great fit) – it probably wouldn’t have happened for a while. So with the Christchurch store not longer workable, all the stock has been moved up to their new Auckland store in Ponsonby.
And what a perfect space it is for them. They have needed to do very little except pull up the carpet and hang the clothes. There seems to be a nice dichotomy to there being no need to rip out the old shop fittings, and all the waste that comes with that – simply to replace it with something ‘new’ and ’slick’. Somehow just the new clothes and new staff have been enough to make it their own.
As well as bringing up the clothes from Christchurch they also bought up the store manager Anita. She is a bundle of vivacious fun and is already making herself very at home with the locals. She loves it in Ponsonby with its village vibe.
The opening was a great success with a couple of us out on the pavement as it was so full! Long may Starfish and Ponsonby prosper!
By Anya Brighouse, 11 May 2011.
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