The tiny shop on Bow Street might have had a makeover but it will still be a hub for community creativity, innovation and collaboration.
Trade Aid manager Eloise Deller will be taking over allocating the use of the shop and hopes to make it easier with an instore booking system.
“If people want to book the shop, they just need to pop into Trade Aid and book a date.”
Eloise says the ethos behind the little shop is still the same; supporting local artisans and those in developing countries.
“We still want this space available for our community and we are also keen to use it as a pop-up education space and to promote the amazing Trade Aid artisans and their products.”
One of the central principles of Trade Aid is to raise awareness about fair trade.
“We are looking forward to running campaigns to raise consumer’s awareness about their purchases and encouraging them to support fair trade as much as possible,” she says.
The initiative was originally set up by Jono Hutson in August 2020, to be a space used by local creatives, artists, foodies and other small-scale ventures to share their wares in the prime main street location.
He also ran Community Kai regularly in the space with his partner Sara Howie to provide quality, nutritious kai to the community on a ‘pay what you can afford’ basis.
Giving back to the community was the impetus behind Jono’s desire to utilise the tiny shop and the Trade Aid team want Jono’s idea to continue to showcase locally made products.
“We are grateful to Jono for starting this initiative. It was an easy fit as it was very much in line with our ethos of creating a more equitable world through trade aid principles,” Eloise says.
Tucked in between Trade Aid and Bohemian Gypsy, the tiny shop was carved out of redundant storage space in the Trade Aid shop and started life as Jenny Carter’s Ruapuke Artisan Bread outlet.
Measuring 2.4sqm, the tiny shop packs a big punch with a premium main street appeal.
At its widest point the tiny shop is no longer than a bed in its confined 1.2 by 2sq m approximate dimensions but, Eloise says, while it might be small it has a big heart.
“The tiny shop is such a big part of Raglan and we’re looking forward to giving it a new lease of life.”
Trade Aid on Bow St is open seven days a week from 9am-5pm
By Janine Jackson
