It was a glamorous night out for all celebrating retail’s star performers at Retail NZ’s 2015 Upper North Island Top Shop Awards. The crowd pulled out their best frocks, champagne bottles were popped and tables were adorned with glittering miniature shopping trolleys.
Over 200 shops from Auckland and the upper North Island entered this year’s awards, which were then whittled down a handful of finalists in each category.
SkyCity Events Centre was almost at full capacity, with many companies that had multiple stores as finalists bringing their teams in full force.
Particularly vocal in their support were the crowds from House of Décor (winner of the People’s Choice Award), and Glengarry (winner of the Food & Beverage Award).
The raucous applause and cheers from their tables showed how proud the companies were to be recognised for their excellence in retail.
This attitude resonated across winners and finalists alike, as the audience happily celebrated each of the winners announced.
NZ Retail Magazine and The Register publisher Vincent Heeringa kicked off the evening by announcing the winner of the Fashion & Footwear award.
He recovered gracefully from a small misunderstanding about which shop was the runner up and which shop was the winner.
Rebekah Brown from Resene Mt Roskill took home the award for Service IQ Retail Professional of the Year in the Upper North Island.
Warehouse Stationery Royal Oak came away victorious as the overall Regional Supreme Top Shop (see an interview with the winners here.)
The store will go on to compete in the Christchurch Supreme Awards evening against the four other regional winners plucked from around the country.
This is where the overall national winner be drawn. Last year’s honour went to Ziera Shoes.
Retail NZ chief executive Mark Johnston says the Top Shop awards aim to raise the standards of retailing in New Zealand, as well as celebrate those who achieved excellence.
He congratulated all of the finalists and winners and praised Warehouse Stationery for taking out the supreme gong, as well as the National/Multi-Store Award when up against six other strong contenders.
The full list of winners is below:
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Fashion & Footwear – sponsored by The Register ttt Winner – Barkers The Yacht Club (Albany) ttt Runner Up – Ziera Botany ttt ttt |
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Health & Beauty – sponsored by Eftpos NZ ttt Winner – Forme Spa Albany ttt Runner Up – East Day Spa Auckland ttt ttt |
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Jewellery & Giftware – sponsored by UnionPay ttt Winner – AGATHA Paris Westfield Albany ttt Runner Up – AGATHA Paris High St ttt ttt |
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Technology & Electronics – sponsored by Rightway ttt Winner – Spark Kerikeri ttt Runner Up – Spark Manukau Supa Centre ttt ttt |
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Small/Single-Store – sponsored by Retail NZ ttt Winner – Urban Dogs (North Shore) ttt Runner Up – HOUSE of DECOR Onehunga ttt ttt |
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National/Multi-Store – sponsored by Visa ttt Winner – Warehouse Stationery Royal Oak ttt Runner Up – Glengarry Victoria Park ttt ttt |
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People’s Choice – sponsored by The Hits ttt Winner – House of Decor Onehunga ttt Runner Up – Specsavers Newmarket ttt ttt |
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Food & Beverage – sponsored by Meridian ttt Winner – Glengarry Jervois Road ttt Runner Up – Glengarry Victoria Park ttt ttt |
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Home & Garden – sponsored by Westpac ttt Winner – The Design Store Sylvia Park ttt Runner Up – Wallace Cotton Newmarket ttt Runner Up – Wallace Cotton Takapuna ttt |
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Lifestyle & Sports – sponsored by Spark Business ttt Winner – Shoe Science Albany ttt Runner Up – Kiwivelo ttt ttt |
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Retail Professional – sponsored by Service IQ ttt Winner – Rebekah Brown, Resene Mt Roskill ttt Runner Up – Carvin Knowles, KBB Music ttt ttt |
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Single-Store OmniChannel – sponsored by Mastercard ttt Winner – D.VICE, The Toy Shop For Grown Ups (Ponsonby) ttt Runner Up – Urban Dogs (North Shore) ttt |
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Multi-Store OmniChannel – sponsored by Z Energy ttt Winner – Kilt Ponsonby ttt Runner Up – Warehouse Stationery Royal Oak ttt ttt |
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Overall Regional Supreme Award – sponsored by .99 & NZME ttt Winner – Warehouse Stationery Royal Oak ttt Runner Up – Spark Kerikeri ttt |
