When people ask me how I’ve found the last 26 years in business and the last 10 years in Napier, I usually reply: “character building.”

Up to the beginning of 2020, we were a small New Zealand business trading profitably in a well-defined market niche, in a holiday destination provincial town. We knew who our customers were, we understood our market, and the business had a clear rhythm.

Then, almost overnight, the international visitors who made up a large part of our customer base disappeared. Just a few weeks later, we were in our first lockdown.

What followed was not one single challenge, but a series of them — uncertainty, closed doors, changing rules, disrupted supply, cautious customers, and the constant need to make decisions without knowing what the next few weeks would bring.

“Character building” is a polite way of saying it was bloody hard. But it also forced us to look closely at what mattered, what could change, and what we were capable of adapting to.

There were moments when it felt like everything we had built was suddenly outside our control. The market had not slowly changed; it had been taken away. Like many small business owners, we had to make decisions quickly, often with incomplete information, while still trying to protect our staff, our customers, and the future of the business.

Looking back, the experience tested every assumption we had about the business. It pushed us to adapt faster, understand our local customer more deeply, and rethink how a small retail business in regional New Zealand could remain relevant when the world changed around it. “Character building” yes, bloody hard yes — but it also showed us what we were capable of.

Then, in November 2020, Napier was hit by severe flooding, adding yet another layer to an already difficult year. The CBD, including Emerson Street, was badly affected, with water entering businesses including our own and disrupting an area that was already trying to recover from lockdowns and the loss of visitors. For a small retailer, seeing floodwater in the heart of town was more than just another practical problem to solve; it was another reminder of how exposed we were to events completely outside our control. After months of adapting to Covid, border closures, and changing customer patterns, the flood felt like one more test of resilience — and one more reason that “character building” became the only polite way to describe that period.

Between the Napier flood and Cyclone Gabrielle, there was no clean return to normal. Borders remained closed for much longer than many of us expected, domestic travel was stop-start, and the Delta and Omicron waves brought more restrictions, uncertainty, staff disruption, and cautious customers. At the same time, supply chain issues made stock harder and more expensive to secure, while inflation and rising interest rates began squeezing household budgets. By late 2022, retail sales volumes were weakening and the wider New Zealand economy was sliding into what would later be confirmed as a technical recession. So, by the time Cyclone Gabrielle arrived, many small retailers were not starting from a position of strength; we had already spent nearly three years absorbing one shock after another.

By the time Cyclone Gabrielle hit in February 2023, many Napier CBD retailers were already tired from nearly three years of disruption. For those of us in the city centre, the cyclone brought another difficult trading period: roads were closed or damaged, customers were focused on immediate needs, visitors stayed away, staff and families were affected, and the normal rhythm of town was interrupted again. Even where shops were able to open, the mood was different, and discretionary retail was understandably not a priority for many people. At the same time, it was impossible not to recognise that others across Hawke’s Bay had suffered far worse — homes lost, businesses destroyed, communities cut off, and lives turned upside down. So while it was a hard period for Napier CBD retail, it also came with a strong sense of perspective. We were dealing with another serious blow to trade, but many people in the wider region were dealing with something much more devastating.

After Cyclone Gabrielle, there was still no clear return to normal. The immediate emergency passed, but the trading environment remained difficult: households were under pressure from the cost-of-living crisis, interest rates were high, discretionary spending was cautious, and New Zealand moved through another technical recession in 2023 and a further downturn through parts of 2024. Even as retail figures began to show some recovery later on, many small retailers were still dealing with higher costs, tighter margins, and customers who were far more careful with their money. In Napier, the CBD also had its own challenges — concerns around retail crime and anti-social behaviour, ongoing debates about safety and CCTV, and changes or works affecting traffic, access and parking at a time when getting people into town mattered more than ever - these were real pressures but we kept adapting. Add to that the more recent wider uncertainty of fuel prices and global conflict, which has now flowed through into freight costs, household budgets and visitor travel decisions, and it feels like the pressure never really came from one direction. It was a series of overlapping pressures, each one manageable on its own perhaps, but exhausting when layered on top of everything that had come before.

And yet, in spite of all of this — or perhaps because of all of this — Adore Collection on Emerson Street, in Napier endures. It has kept going, kept adapting, and in many ways it has kept getting better. The product ranges are stronger than they have ever been, the quality and value on offer is more competitive than ever, and the www.adorecollection.com website now allows people not just from Napier, but from all over New Zealand — and yes, from around the world — to shop at a little shop in Napier.

For owners Sally and Steve, together with their daughter Chiara, Adore Collection has never just been a shop. It has been a family effort, a local business, and a long-term commitment to Napier. After more than 26 years in business, including 10 years in Napier, and after everything the business has been through, they still feel as though they are only at the beginning of the Adore Collection journey. There is still more to build, more to improve, and more to offer.

"It has been tough, and at times it is still tough, but we are also better, sharper, and more determined than we have ever been. That is only possible because of the unrelenting support of our local customers, our tourist visitors, our online shoppers, and the designers, crafters, makers, artists, producers, manufacturers and wider community who help make a business like this possible." say Sally and Steve

"At the end of the day, we’re still here, still having a crack, and still incredibly grateful every time someone chooses to support us. Every visit, every online order, every kind word, every recommendation, and every person who simply cheers us on helps a local business keep moving forward. That support matters more than people probably realise."

Adore Collection will continue to change, improve, and adapt to the world around us, because retail keeps changing, Napier keeps changing, and the world keeps changing too. But the heart of it will stay the same: a proudly local Napier store offering quality products, genuine value, and a friendly welcome to locals, visitors, and online shoppers alike - from a family business where the owners live just down the road.

Final words go to Steve and Sally who say "Thanks for sticking with us. We hope you’ll stay with us for the next chapter, because it is already taking shape — and there is plenty more to come."