I have always loved textiles having grown up in a creative home where my mother’s passion for textiles and handcrafts was instilled in me from a young age. I learned early how to discern the quality of different fabrics and how important these traits were before you even began to produce something. What a waste of labour if the hours of work were wasted on inferior cloth.
I started working on The Linen Store concept a few years ago while in our successful store Harrowset Hall in Newmarket Auckland. I wanted to establish a second store that delivered a good quality simple product and focused on basics such as sheeting. The many different sheeting options available today has created confusion and most people are looking for something that delivers a comfortable sleeping experience as well as durability. There is a lot of uncertainty around buying a sheet and I wanted to ensure that our customers get what they expect.
I also wanted to showcase some of the wonderful NZ made products that were available to us and support the vision, courage and confidence these manufacturers and designers had shown in spite of the growing competition from overseas. Brands such as Stansborough and Windermere who produce the wool on their own farms and manufacture high quality throws and blankets. The ethics behind producing locally, such as smaller volume, fair wages, and sustainable business are becoming increasingly important. Sharing the responsibility of ensuring that all parties are able to be profitable in delivering a product to market is something we want both us and our customers to feel proud of.
I am also proud of the fact that we have created and maintained one of New Zealand’s iconic small businesses and supported many more bespoke business over the past 25 years. Small business is important to the economy of New Zealand and I would like to thank our customers both past and present for supporting Harrowset Hall and now our new store and online store The Linen Store. It is due to our loyal and we hope satisfied customers and also due to our hard working committed staff that we are able to continue providing such great product.
Naturally there are many products that cannot be produced locally such as towels, Marcella bedspreads and some of the hand stitched items that our customers adore. We endeavour to source these from reliable suppliers both in the East and from European countries such as Portugal, Italy and France. Our goal is to present the best of products from NZ and around the world.
At The Linen Store we want to present our customers with an experience that goes beyond price and includes value related to quality, style, service and the simple pleasure of having purchased something you love.
