Talking Takapuna

Escape the wild and wet weather this month, and warm up with some entertainment and dining in Takapuna.

The Bruce Mason Centre, The PumpHouse and Monterey Lounge Cinema are all ready for you with schedules full of great music, movies, comedy and more. Why not make it a great night out and meet for dinner and drinks early, or stay late after the show. There are so many delicious and refreshing places around these venues, the hardest part will be choosing where to go! If you’re heading to the Bruce Mason Centre, there’s Taylors on Hurstmere, Nanam, Little Lamb HotPot, The Elephant Wrestler, Hops and Claret or Aubergine nearby. Or if you’re heading to The PumpHouse, why not grab a quick bite from BurgerFuel or Fatima’s, or visit Tok Tok, Winner Winner, Renkon, Takapuna Bar, Botticelli or Karam Bar & Eatery. Or if it’s cinematic adventures you’re heading for, try Sake Bar Nippon, Al Forno, Gangnam Style, House of Chocolate, Burger Burger, El Humero, Bird on a Wire or My Fried Chicken. Don’t forget, while you’re out dining and enjoying Takapuna, you can 'Shop and Win' this month! Simply spend over $20 in any participating hospitality or retail business in Takapuna, receive an entry card, then enter on our website for your chance to win over $10,000 worth of shopping sprees! Check out www. ilovetakapuna.co.nz for more information and to enter.

We all love our tried and true, our favourites, our go-tos – but there are now some fantastic new places and things to try in Takapuna. We are thrilled to welcome some new businesses that are open and ready for you: Catch 21 is a brand new spot for brunch, lunch and coffee on Hurstmere Green, and a definite must-visit for all seafood lovers! For social gatherers and after work catch-ups, make Hops and Claret your next venue of choice – with a great selection of fine wines, beer on tap, premium spirits and a delicious menu of tapas to share, you couldn’t ask for more! Visit them now next to Florrie McGreal’s on Hurstmere Rd.

Zong Kitchen is another new lunch and dinner option, open now on Huron Street – offering delicious Chinese dishes from dumplings and fried rice to noodle soups and more!

At the end of this month, we’re bringing back the Takapuna Winter Lights! Experience Takapuna like never before in this all-ages outdoor sensory experience that weaves through central Takapuna, Hurstmere Rd and Hurstmere Green, and features some of New Zealand’s premier lighting and entertainment creative talents – all free!

So grab the family, dress up warmly, and come and enjoy some dinner out and some winter lights in Takapuna from 28th – 3st1 July. The lights are on from 5pm – 10pm. Takapuna Winter Lights is brought to you by the Takapuna Beach Business Association, Auckland Unlimited, SILO, AMD, Willis Bond & Go Media as part of Elemental AKL.

Whatever you’re up to in Takapuna this winter, we’d love to see it (or places and businesses you love to visit!), so please tag us: @ilovetakapuna when posting on social media and we might just re-share your snaps!

JUNE – JULY EVENTS IN TAKAPUNA

• May-31 July: Aotearoa Music Photography Exhibit • 30 June-17 July: Bruce Mason Centre – The Wedding Singer • 1-31 July: Shop and WIN In Takapuna • 2-23 July: The PumpHouse – BadJelly the Witch • 18 July: Bruce Mason Centre – Jackie Clarke • 20 July: Bruce Mason Centre – Matariki Glow Show • 22 July: Bruce Mason Centre – Leila Forouhar Live in Concert • 23 July: Bruce Mason Centre – The Guilty Feminist • 27 July-7 Aug: The PumpHouse – The Unexpected Guest by

Agatha Christie • 28 July: Elephant Wrestler – Drag Queen Bingo • 28-31 July: Takapuna Winter Lights 2022 • 8 Aug: Bruce Mason Centre – Lisa Lorrell & James Harrison –

Morning Melodies • 25 Aug: Bruce Mason Centre – Max Amini LIVE in Auckland • 28 Aug-3 Sept: Bruce Mason Centre – APO for Kinds – In

Space • 30 Aug: Bruce Mason Centre – The Boss, Bruce Springsteen

Tribute

Check out all the fantastic photos shared to us by fellow Takapuna lovers! Tag us @ilovetakapuna or use #ilovetakapuna on Instagram to share your pics with us.

PRINCIPAL SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSORS: The Takapuna Beach Business Association appreciates the support of our Gold sponsors…

PLATINUM SPONSORS: The Takapuna Beach Business Association appreciates the support of our Platinum sponsors…

A chat with Christopher Wilson

Founder of Hi Ho Digital Marketing

Tell us a bit about Hi Ho Digital and how you started it

I’ve been in advertising all my working life and previously ran a printbased agency for 20 years which created catalogue campaigns for clients in New Zealand and Australia. I loved print and the campaigns that we generated around it. However, they weren’t 100% accountable, and an accurate ROI could not be gained. Taking brand awareness aside, catalogue print campaigns have a low ROI and generally ran at conversion rate of 1.75% to 7% if the right offer and call to action are presented. I wanted more accountability with a higher ROI for my clients, so out of that came Hi Ho, my new digital marketing agency.

Hi Ho develops and implements automated digital marketing strategies and campaigns, that channel relevant traffic with high conversion rates to our customer's websites. An automated digital sales funnel enables our customers to talk with relevance to their target audiences. It also allows second by second analytics on conversion and ROI. We know what is working and what isn’t at any given time.

How has peoples media consumption changed in the last two years with Covid?

Covid has forced more and more consumers to change their shopping habits. Instead of visiting a bricks and mortar store, they have now got used to researching, analysing and purchasing online. The fear or perception of receiving the wrong or inferior product via e-commerce has almost been eliminated. This has been achieved partly out of necessity and partly from good seamless e-commerce experiences. With e-commerce, the consumer is no longer limited to a geographic location for shopping. They can almost shop from anywhere in the world. And that’s not Aucklanders or New Zealanders purchasing products offshore, but also people from the other side of the world buying products from New Zealand.

What are things that small businesses should be focusing to get through another turbulent year?

Expand your market with a well thought out e-commerce experience coupled with an automated inbound marketing funnel. Not only will local customers adapt and not wander off to the competition, which is only one click away., it will also help your business target consumers who want your product from all over New Zealand and the world.

How do you look after the wellbeing of your team in a changing Covid environment?

Without a doubt, Covid and lockdowns have been tough on everyone. But one thing we learned at Hi Ho over the last two years is that we can work from anywhere. We quickly learned who liked working from home or in isolation from the office environment and those who needed the office environment to stay productive. Hi Ho now operates an open office: staff can either work from home or at the office, and it’s up to them to decide what works best for them. This has worked well for us as we now have staff in different locations throughout New Zealand. Productivity has never been higher.

What is a passion of yours that keeps your wellbeing tank full?

Wilderness and photography, and when I mean wilderness, I mean adventures up mountains and deep into valleys that take days, either on foot or on my mountain bike or gravel bike. These adventures recharge my soul with fitness, creativity and time away from the inevitable rush of everyday tasks and expectations – a mind and body reset.

My most recent adventures included:

Disappearing with a good friend into the back of the Nelson lakes for five days. We ventured up to Rotomairewhenua (Blue Lake – which has the clearest water in the world) and Rotopōhueroa (Lake Constance). I was on a mission to find the source of Rotomairewhenua and capture it in an image, as well as continue my image study of the Sabin River.

Cycling the Old Ghost Road for the second time but this time adding the Heaphy Track onto it. Why? To see if I could do it. Eight hours a day for five days with everything you need on your bike over some of the most challenging mountain biking terrain in New Zealand. Fantastic!

Christopher Wilson.

Transform your home with help from Barb

Aidan Bennett talks to Takapuna’s Barb McLean about her new business, Grace Home Staging

We love it when people follow their passions. Well known Takapuna identity Barb McLean has done just that over the past 18 months with the launch of her new business, Grace Home Staging.

After over 30 years in the risk insurance industry, the active grandmother decided it was time for a change. To have her own gig, combining her passion for homes with a more flexible lifestyle that would enable her to spend more time with her family, Barb McLean. particularly her much-loved grandchildren.

“Kev goes to golf while I go to open homes,” explained Barb when describing her passion for lovely homes when we visited her own lovely home located close to Takapuna Beach in June. The home she shares with golfing husband Kevin.

Barb is a real Shore local, having attended St Joeseph's Primary and Carmel College. Her dad was a partner in Franchi and Ion, a business that built many of the brick and tile units on the North Shore. As a kid she and her siblings spent time checking out homes and understanding the market with their father. He always said “buy north facing, by public transport and the worst house in the street”. That upbringing lit her passion for real estate and Barb just loves going to open homes, as well watching pricing and properties. It’s in her blood. "Ever since I can remember I have been passionate about the way a home feels. After years of buying, renovating, staging and selling my own homes – and helping others – I decided it was time to put my passion to work. The Grace Home Staging name was created and decided on by my four grandchildren, developed around creating a graceful home.”

As she was setting up the business Barb’s first project was for a work colleague who was struggling to sell his home. Enter Barb, with her home-staging flair and the home ended up selling for 15% more than expected. That success, along with the encouragement from Kevin and her family provided the impetus for taking the plunge. Giving up the corporate job of over three decades to be her own boss. And she loves it!

"I know that one of the most important aspects of getting the best price for a home is ensuring it looks inspirational to buyers,” says Barb. “I work with the clients, and their real estate agent to ensure the style we create for a home will result in getting the best price. I love interior design and get a kick out of adding value for people.”

Barb is keen to point out that Grace Home Staging is a boutique business that’s all about relationships and understanding that smaller details are important. As well as Barb there is a team she can call on that ensures they are always well resourced.

“In the short time that we have been going, we have built up a very good clientele who appreciate what we offer,” adds Barb. “Our clients come via recommendations from real estate agents and via referrals from satisfied customers. There is not doubt that the market is changing, but as selling times for homes stretch out a bit, the skills of good home stagers become more important. Smarter touches make a real difference.”

If you are looking for one of the Shore’s very best home stagers for your property, you’ve found her. Contact Barb McLean at Grace Home Staging by visiting www.graceyourhome.co.nz or or phone 021 284 4661.

What Barb’s customers are saying…

"Thanks for the great job you did dressing our fathers unit for sale. After all his furniture was removed the unit looked a bit tired.. You dressed it up to be the bright cheerful home we knew it to be, and helped Sue achieve the result we wanted at auction.” "Barb was excellent. She was able to quickly get a feel for the house and knew what would work well for our particular house inside and out. She’s an excellent communicator and made the process very easy.” "Barb has a real eye for detail, her ability to pull a room together and make it stand-out is amazing. She makes the process easy and her high-quality looks and knowledge of creating great flow in a house definitely added huge value to the overall sale.” "We called on Barb to do some titivating, or minor staging, for our home when it went on the market. We wanted it to look stylish but still lived-in, and not overly staged. Barb brought her ideas that were fresh and personalised to what we wanted and to our home."