Christchurch’s top shop

MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday 2 October, 2008

Simply Furniture at Tower Junction

 Christchurch’s top shop

Addington furniture store, Simply Furniture, was last night [Wed] declared Christchurch’s top shop.

The beautifully merchandised store beat off 43 other finalists who made it through to the final stage of the Christchurch region 2008 TOP SHOP Retail Excellence Awards.

Christine Beavon, the New Zealand Retailers Association’s Southern Regional Manager, said the quality of the finalists made it very difficult for the judges this year.

"Retailers who concentrate on excellent service and presentation definitely have a competitive edge in a tight market and will gain market share that they will keep when the inevitable upturn occurs,” she said.      

Category award winners were:

·        Large Format: Mitre 10 MEGA, Ferrymead

·        Supermarkets: South City New World

·        Fashion, Footwear and Accessories: Sparks Rangiora

·        Lifestyle and Fitness: Seventhwave Wetsuits, Ferrymead

·        Gift and Homeware: Simply Furniture - Tower Junction, Addington

·        Health and Beauty: - L'Occitane en Provence - Westfields Riccarton

·        Specialty: Milk - Contemporary Baby Store, Ferrymead

·        Food and Beverage: City Seafood Market

·        Start Up: Palate, The Arts Centre

The award for Outstanding Customer Service was won by City Seafood Market and the Innovation Excellence in Retail award was won by Seventhwave Wetsuits.

The Retail Modern Apprentice went to Nicholas Kissel of The Rockshop. This new award category is sponsored by the Retail Institute, the retail and distribution industry training organisation. The award is unique because it recognises individuals as opposed to retail stores

(For more detail on the awards, see notes below)

The awards were presented at an awards evening held last night (1 October) in the Hotel Grand Chancellor attended by about 310 Christchurch retailers and their guests.

TOP SHOP has been around 21 years and has a well established track record of improving customer service.

The awards are open to all retailers.  They also run in the Waikato, Wellington and Auckland regions. 
 

ENDS

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