a love letter to physical retail

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about clothes, hospitality and Tāmaki Makaurau, by Reilly Hodson. This week: why I love shopping in person, and some suggestions to make it better. If you like this newsletter, why not chip in a couple of bucks? Click the button below.

shopping in person is just better

I love shopping. I love buying new clothes, books, shoes, you name it. Getting new stuff is an excellent feeling, and it feels doubly good when supporting local businesses, particularly in the post-covid landscape. As much as I love to get new stuff, though, I hate shopping online. There’s no sense of satisfaction in pressing some buttons online and receiving something a few days, or weeks later, and I feel a ton of stress about whether the item will fit (I have a pair of shoes coming this week and I have no idea how big they’ll be). My favourite band, the 1975, sum it up pretty well:

All this is to say that I love going to shops. Much like going to a good restaurant, spending some time at a nice shop is a chance to get properly taken care of, have a social experience, and maybe buy something, too. I’ve never been a person with a ton of close friends, but even when I’ve had lonely days, I’ve always found comfort in being a regular shopper at my favourite stores, shooting the shit with a staff member about new product, what they’ve been up to, or just life more generally, the same as I do heading into my favourite cafe and chatting with the barista. It’s a pocket of joy as someone who spends a lot of weekend days wandering the city solo.

In recent years, in particular, there has been a real focus in Auckland on creating premium retail spaces. Everywhere from the newish precincts at Britomart and Commercial Bay to Platform Store’s ‘middle of nowhere’ space in Mt Eden has been filled with picture-perfect fit outs, complete with custom cabinetry and signature scents. I love that stuff, and will happily browse the lovely new Maggie Marilyn store with its wardrobe-style sliding doors and dried flowers with no second thoughts, despite being a fair way outside of their target demo (I will probably never wear this ruffly shirt, for example).

However, as a reader pointed out to me last week, that embrace of a fancy store aesthetic isn’t universal. Jean reached out over email to explain that, to her, some shops just don’t feel accepting to people that don’t fit in with their specific vibe.

Checks Downtown’s new space on Pitt St is a fascinating example of this. It’s one of my favourite shops: a local business that makes cool, internationally recognised clothes that I’ve shopped with and owned since they started. The staff are always friendly; I’ve known Jordan, the big boss, since the shop opened and I even modelled for them once. The vibe, though, is very specific. It hits you in the face from across the road: their whole storefront is painted their signature bright orange. The space is often empty, so you know that if you walk in, whoever is working the floor is going to talk to you, something that can be super daunting, and off-putting for people who aren’t into the super-engaged shopping style I go for. I eat that stuff up, but that’s obviously not a universal reaction to this storefront:

There’s something, too, that I find somewhat difficult about the way that I, a Pākehā cishet guy from an upper middle class background, feel welcomed in a space like the Yu Mei store in Commercial Bay, despite the fact that I will probably never buy that Birkin-esque handbag I always eye up when I go there, while others feel that they couldn’t walk in no matter their financial situation. I’ve certainly never been given a side eye or asked to show my bag to a staff member after leaving any store without purchasing anything, for example, and that contributes to my confidence to walk in and just browse.

There’s a lot to be done from retail spaces to make themselves more open to broader audiences of customers and browsers, while retaining their unique essence, a line that Auckland’s new renaissance of eat-and-drinkeries walk, for the most part, successfully. If people don’t feel like they can walk into a shop that might provide them a great experience, that’s a loss for everyone involved. However, if you’re someone that feels like they might be looked down upon if they walk into a “cool” store, I’d recommend giving it a try, at least once, because it probably won’t be as bad as you’re worried. Here are a couple that I can personally attest to having an open and friendly service style, no matter their fit out or price point.

Some Tāmaki stores with the clipboard Seal of Approval:

Clothes: Shakes (see below), Checks Downtown, Platform Store, Kowtow, Doran and Doran, Thom Morison

Accessories: Yu Mei, Pat Menzies, Father Rabbit, Everyday Needs

Other: Time Out Books, Unity Books, Mag Nation, Aesop, Everyday Wine

clips

• @pomme_queen is my favourite new addition to my Instagram feed. It’s a guy called William who makes chocolate professionally, and he posts pretty pictures of flowers, bees and rare apple varietals. It’s a great timeline cleanse.

• Kowtow’s new Building Blocks range dropped this week, and it’s filled with reasonably priced elevated basics in some great colours. I’ve got my eye on this perfect mock neck, and my girlfriend is going to pick up this elevated t shirt dress.

• Checks Downtown and Satya Chai Lounge have teamed up for a new t-shirt. I’m a sucker for restaurant merch, and this is a prime example of why.

• This week in silly Spinoff rankings: Janaye Henry ranks every Auckland high school’s uniforms, and my school’s bad uniform ranks very poorly, though I wish their insistence on velcro-fastened shirts with fake buttons could have gotten a mention.

• Williams Eatery is kickstarting their new Friday night ‘club williams’ series this Friday 19th February with a Jamaican-style BBQ from head chef Elie Assaf, and cocktails from Honest Spirits.

one good thing - kuumba incense

Every week, clipboard is going to feature a quick hit at the bottom of the newsletter (i.e. here) about one good thing I bought, ate, or did this week. This week, kuumba Ino incense from Shakes.

No store in Auckland sums up my love for a good brick and mortar retail experience quite like Shakes, a mostly menswear retail boutique on Vulcan Lane, downtown. Leon, the proprietor, stocks a small, curated (a word which is overused to the point of ridiculousness, but which certainly applies here) range of brands from around the world, including a number that you simply won’t find anywhere else in the country, or the hemisphere, for that matter. Shakes has no online store, which means you have to go in and have a chat in order to buy something, an experience which I’d definitely recommend.

I like to wander into Shakes and have a chat every once in a while, and have done for years, but I’ve probably only actually bought things there a handful of times. My budget unfortunately doesn’t allow for Engineered Garments jackets or Lownn trousers, but there’s a great range of graphic and blank tees and sweats at a more achievable price point.

The thing I’ve been returning to over and over most recently, though, is the truly amazing range of incense stocked at Shakes, from the Japanese brand Kuumba. Kuumba makes Japanese style incense, which is a bit less funky than Indian styles, or the incense you might find in a Catholic church. The most recent pack I bought is called Ino, a delicious fragrance from their original range, that makes my apartment smell like an absolute dream.

The range is broader than that, though, including fragrances as broad as “White Linen,” which smells exactly like fresh laundry, and “Very Sexy,” and you can try them all at Shakes. If you’re interested in upping your fragrance game, I’d recommend heading down to Shakes, giving the range a sniff, and sticking around for a chat about clothes with a true enthusiast. It’s a true slice of world-class retail right under our noses.

shouts out

Big shout out to clipboard’s first paying subscriber, Isaac Evans, who’s been behind the newsletter since day one. If you want to join the club, support the newsletter and net yourself a little shout out here, click the button below to contribute, it’s much appreciated. If you aren’t interested in paying money for a free newsletter (no shame in that), consider sending this issue to a friend with good taste.

That’s all for clipboard this week. Thanks as always for reading. I’ll be back in your inbox again next Sunday morning, and in the meantime you can find me and clipboard on Instagram. I also always reply to emails with suggestions, questions, or offers of work. See you next week!