"WE HAD FUN”
This was the second DEF shop on Pitt Street.
After years in the bigger space, we decided to downscale and turn a smaller shop into a dairy . The idea was to cut expenses while still having a presence in the area we had called home for so long.
The new cycle lane and construction of the City Rail Link tunnel had already taken a heavy toll on foot traffic, parking and the businesses around us.
What we didn’t realise was that just 2 days after opening the new shop, New Zealand would enter its first lockdown.
That stuck the knife in a little deeper.
At the time, we didn’t know it was the beginning of the end. But this isn’t meant to be a sob story.
We had some amazing years on Pitt Street, made lifelong friends, launched countless products and collaborations, threw parties and created a lot of great memories.
Last Friday, six years after opening that the Pitt Street Minimart, I finally got to walk through the completed tunnel and see the new Karanga-a-Hape Station.
The entrance now sits only metres from where our shop once stood.
It was a strange feeling seeing the finished result after watching the area slowly disappear behind construction fences all those years ago.
A little bittersweet, but mostly it made me think:
We had a good run.
We made some cool shit.
We met some great people.
WE HAD FUN.
Less than a week after opening, New Zealand entered the first lockdown.