An ‘Honour’ to open in Greytown

Wednesday, 25 September 2024

Honour, which has three stores in Wellington, opened in Greytown this month.

A new women’s clothing consignment store in Greytown is benefiting from good demand for quality pre-loved fashion.

Honour opened its doors on September 14, and owner Sue Allen said people have “flooded in” to sell their vintage and secondhand designer pieces at the store.

“It was an amazing first day … People knew us and were really happy that we’d opened up there.”

There was complimentary bubbles and chocolate, and staff members from neighbouring shops even popped by to congratulate Allen on the store, which is her fourth.

The three other Honour stores are all in the Wellington region – one in Johnsonville and two in the central city.

Zandy, left, and store manager Amanda, right.

Members of the Honour community made it over the Remutaka Hill to celebrate the opening with Allen, as did her parents.

Her daughters in Australia even sent bouquets of flowers, she said.

“I’ve been so nervous about opening this … [with] people saying, ‘Don’t do it, you’ve got three already, why do you want a fourth one?’ I just wanted it, I just knew it in my heart.”

Allen said she loved the small Greytown community and had been eyeing up the site for 18 months.

People in Wairarapa made “a real effort” to support retailers, she said.

Honour owner Sue Allen says the Greytown store’s opening weekend was a success.

“There’s no doubt that women that come here, [for] girls’ weekends, they’re in shopping mode.

“I just wanted to bring something beautiful here because I felt it would fit in.”

For Allen, her stores are more than just a place to shop – they are places where women can chat about fashion, have a laugh and find some beautiful clothes.

It started 10 years ago when the fashion company she was working for at the time went into liquidation.

Allen says she is very excited to have a store serving the “beautiful people” of Greytown.

She loved fashion, owned a wardrobe full of items that could be on-sold, and had long believed that even an item picked up secondhand from an op shop is still new to the buyer.

After finding a “little shop on Vivian St”, she thought, “I’m going to do this,” Allen said.

“I built that shop just about, to start off with, out of my own wardrobe.”

She sourced tissue paper and personalised bags, vowing that customers would leave her store feeling like they had been at a designer store.

“Honour does mean a lot. [It] means honour the clothing, honour the customers, so it’s not just a cliché. I did think long and hard about the name.”

Allen praised the staff of the Greytown store, saying it was in great hands.

“I’m very, very excited to be here. Beautiful people, beautiful location and beautiful clothes.”