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It's now a week since we finished the re-fit of our Dunedin Meridian Centre store, with both customers and staff rapt with the new look. Store Manager Christine says that the changes, which happened during a whirlwind two weeks in February, use the space far better and makes the store a world-class retail area.
"We needed to use the space better in store and get the most from it, I think that's happened now," she says. "We have much more usable floor space, which displays the clothes better, and has a better flow for customers."
The space is much more open and inviting, and this in turn helps show the clothes off better.
"It's much more open and lighter, with a cleaner look and more space," says Christine. "There's also more fitting room space, making it more relaxing for guys to try things on, and there's a better flow for people to browse. Thanks to the signage areas in the window, sale time will be such a breeze with all the new rails - Thanks for thinking of us Jake!"
In addition to Barkers Visual Manager Jake's input, Sam, Kate, Kara, Alana and Christine and Brian had huge parts to play in the improvements, which have already been generating praise from the store's clientele.
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People love the new look," says Christine. "We've had lots of great comments in the first few days, including many people saying this is the flashest store in town by a long shot."
If you're in Dunedin might we suggest you head along to the Merdian Centre and check it out for yourself. As you can see below, the team have worked wonders on the store...
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Posted:
25 Feb 10, 12:00 a.m.
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It's now a bit over a month since an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 wrought havoc on Haiti, leaving over 200,000 of its citizens dead and many more homeless. The tragedy is one of the worst in recent memory, rivalling the Asian tsunami for bleak ferocity and soul-crushing statistics.
With the passage of time and the remorseless appetite of the news cycle, the world's attention has to some extent moved on, but one local company has refused to let the opportunity to extend a hand go by.
Closet.co.nz is a t-shirt company run by Dave Gibson, the erstwhile singer of Elemeno P. It usually sells a bunch of t-shirts by bands both fantastic and horrible, but since the tragedy in Haiti they've produced a series of tees which look as great as the cause they support.
Designed by the likes Sarah Larnach (creator of Ladyhawke's award-winning artwork), The Wilderness Collective's Simon Oosterdijk and Kelvin Soh and Consortium's Simon Chesterman each is a stark, immaculately assembled tribute to the resilience of the Haitian People in the face of this tragedy.
“We just had to act," says Gibson. "In the face of such hopelessness you’ve got to at least try. I got on the phone and before I knew it we had Gildan giving us a huge discounts on tees for the project, with Embroidery Works & Courier Post also being incredibly generous and donating the cost of postage for the first 1000 t-shirts. It was really encouraging to have people get behind the idea so quickly.”
They're just $20 each, and all proceeds go to Oxfam's Haitian relief fund. The first run of 1000 is nearly sold out, but more will arrive any day now. Do the right thing and get yourself one.
Simon Chesterman
Kelvin Soh
Sarah Larnach
Simon Oosterdijk
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Posted:
24 Feb 10, 12:00 a.m.
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After many summers dominated by the Big Day Out, which felt like it had become a little predictable over the years, the arrival of the St Jerome's Laneway Festival (to give its full, slightly cumbersome title) was cause for celebration.
The line-up was a perfect mix of iconic artists (Echo and the Bunnymen, The 3Ds, Daniel Johnston) and young upstarts (the xx, Florence and the Machine, Street Chant). For me it was the latter group who shone brightest on a day the weather seemed determined to ruin, but the whole event felt like the beginning of a long, fruitful relationship.
The event started for me with a sit-down interview with Daniel Johnston. For those unfamiliar with this living legend of alternative music, the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston is required viewing, a story both inspiring and tragic, and one which shows just why his unique talent is held so close by his fans.
He was extremely unnerving in conversation, but on stage, though the sound was partially marred by a joyous set from Cut Off Your Hands on the other side of the car-park, he was a total marvel. The clenched fist and ambivalence to the audience were entirely over-ridden by his wide open songwriting.
Good as he was the hghlight of the day had to be the xx (defiantly lower case, thanks). Their debut album of last year was utterly perfect in its slow-motion, rhythmic pulse, but it sounded like a decidedly difficult operation to take live. But from the first note they were sultry and uncomfortably close, the hottest band in the world right now, and deservedly so.
Later sets from The 3Ds and Chris Knox and the Nothing showed that New Zealand remains one of the best nations in the world at the fine art of noisy rock'n'roll, and that nothing so mundane as a stroke can keep a free man down.
Echo and the Bunnymen were apparently patchy, while Florence blew minds, but by then I'd succumbed to a very long weekend and the (allowable on the first time around) long waits for food and drink. But make no mistake, if you missed it this year, this event is a a keeper.
To close out, here's the xx, doing a song named Basic Space.
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Posted:
3 Feb 10, 12:00 a.m.
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