Wainui identity retires

By Frank Neill

Well known Wainuiomata identity Janice Everest retired from her job with Hammer Hardware on 17 March.

Aged 79 years, Janice began when the hardware store was Mitre 10. Her first period of time working at Mitre 10 and Hammer Hardware spanned almost 20 years.

Janice then went on an overseas yacht trip, sailing to South East Asia, before returning to Hammer Hardware for another five or six years.

Two years after the Wainuiomata Mall opened in 1971, Janice set up the gift shop Vanity Fair in the mall – a shop she ran for 22 years.

Vanity Fair sold everything from toys to Royal Albert tea sets.

It was a very popular shop too. In fact on Friday nights before Christmas people had to wait outside the shop to get in, as the shop was so full of people there was no more room for more.

“We were a busy little shop,” she says. “We were always busy.”

Before she opened Vanity Fair, Janice worked for Hutt City Council in the treasury department.

She was also a volunteer with Tourism Wainuiomata for a number of years.

After living in Wainuiomata for around 35 years, Janice shifted to Waterloo to live some 20 years ago.

As well as continuing to work in Wainuiomata, she continues to be a member of the Wainuiomata Garden Club.