blog

Moving Office

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:36:00 +1300

Within the next two weeks, Experience Upper Hutt will be relocating to the new office space above Archibald's the Art Place.

The office is located on the first floor, just at the top of the stairs. So...if you're passing, please pop in for a coffee or tea - as always, everyone is welcome as we have an open door policy.

All telephone numbers will remain the same.

Farmers' Market 8 November

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:12:00 +1300

Yet another Sunday has gone and another glorious day to hold our Farmers' Market. Good turnout once again with an added bonus of two more stallholders: Fish on Wheels and Rick's Belgian Chocolates and Brigitte's Cookies.

If you want to become a stallholder please go to the Registration page on the website, fill out the form and return to either Hellen or Chris Mills. If you know of any potential stallholders that could fit the Farmers Market criteria, please feel free to contact Hellen or Chris.

Keep the great support going!

Police Update

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:06:00 +1300

With Christmas not too far away we can expect an increase in the incidents of shoplifting. If you have not received a Business Crime Prevention booklet please contact Constables Flora Nielsen or Geoffrey McGhie at Upper Hutt Police on 527 2300.

We are also updating the key holder listing for the CBD so to speed up the process, could Retailers please forward the following information to flora.nielsen@police.govt.nz:

Name, address, telephone and fax numbers of the business
Email address
Name, address and after hours telephone number of the business owner

After hours contact details, e.g. name of security company or owner as above

The Great Kaitoki Pumpkin Harvest

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:03:00 +1300

The Great Kaitoke Pumpkin Harvest will be celebrated in Upper Hutt on the 28 of February in 2010.

Giant pumpkins will be judged for size and weight. Prizes will also be given for the tastiest homegrown pumpkin, the yummiest homemade pumpkin pie, the best carved pumpkin, for the longest distance a pumpkin can be thrown and, of course, a pumpkin pie eating competition.

The event will be fun for the whole family with many more family-oriented activities such as gumboot throwing and cow pat bingo.

All proceeds (and leftover pumpkins!!) will be going to the HUHA animal sanctuary to further enrich the lives of animals such as New Zealands famous ex factory famed pig "Piggy Sue", Laurie the Ex Circus Monkey and friends.

Special Giant Pumpkin Seeds will be available for sale from Woolworths UH, Kaitoke Country Gardens and online at www.huha.org.nz from Monday 2^nd of November.

Farmers' Market Opening

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:57:00 +1300

The Upper Hutt Farmers' Market launched today - to spectacular numbers from the Hutt Valley region - the locals turned out in force and it was estimated over 1,000 people visited the market.

The stallholders were:

Kristin's Flower Shoppe: fresh flowers
Bees Blessing: organic drink concentrates
Greytown Gold: olive oil, saffron, native plants
Martinborough Manner: jams, marmalades, chutneys, relishes and preserves
Roadside Café: espresso (made with Havana Coffee), toasted sandwiches, light snacks, and cold drinks
The Bacon Station: free-range pork products, small goods, and handmade traditional English pork pies
Kaitoke Free-Range Eggs: eggs from Kaitoke
A Cheeky Mouthful: fresh-baked cupcakes

Everyone did a roaring trade: The Bacon Station didn't have a moment to stop and have a coffee, their stand was constantly busy with customers. Kaitoke Free Range Eggs ran out of product by 10am! Bees Blessing, Greytown Gold, Martinborough Manner and Kristin's Flower Shoppe were always busy and sold loads of produce. A Cheeky Mouthful were strategically placed next to Roadside Cafe - they complemented each other - have a coffee and a cupcake!

Well done to Hellen and her team - let's keep the momentum going.

New Staff @ Experience Upper Hutt

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:16:00 +1300

I'd like to introduce to you and welcome our new part-time staff member, Megan Leonard, who will be working with us, four days a week, until December.

Megan is from Ohio in the United States and has good experience in the Events Planning and Public Relations arena. You'll be seeing Megan around town quite often as she will be running various projects for us and will be touching base with the retailers quite often.

I'd also like to introduce you to Sonja Cabrera of Rio Bravo Consulting Ltd - a web design agency. Sonja is on the Board of Experience Upper Hutt and is in charge of producing this newsletter and working on other projects as they arise. Sonja's background is in economic development, having worked for NZTE in Italy for nine years. Sonja is originally from Avalon and has been living in Upper Hutt for the last two years.

A big welcome to both of you!

BA5: Employing People with Disabilities

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:26:00 +1300

How to broaden your business opportunities by employing people with disabilities

Utilise Support

Mike Fisher and Bonnie James, Employment Consultants from Workbridge Wellington, will speak about the development of working relationships with clients with disability and the outcomes they hope to achieve. They will talk about the "cost of disability" criteria eligibility and how they apply those criteria to the application and use of Support Funds to assist clients towards or in employment. They will also cover how Workbridge liaises with employers to achieve successful employment outcomes.

Employers Taking Leadership

Anne Hawker, Principal Disability Advisor for Work and Income, will be speaking about employers leadership and the development of the Employers Disability Network. Employers in the network have taken the initiative to support each other in employing people with disabilities. Employers play an important role in enabling disabled people to realise their potential and be fully contributing members of society. Anne will use case studies to illustrate these issues.

RSVP Hellen or by telephone (04) 527 0316 by Monday 19 October 2009.

Venue: Expressions Arts & Entertainment Centre

Date: Wednesday 21 October 2009 @ 5.30 - 7.30pm

DIY Marketing Toolkit

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:20:00 +1300

An innovative online marketing toolkit developed by well known Hutt Valley business, Synthesis Marketing, saves business owners time and money. For less than the cost of a coffee per day mymarketingexpert is delivered to your inbox in monthly bite-sized chunks with each issue simplifying a different marketing topic; from writing great adverts, marketing planning and getting started with database marketing to how to write direct mail letters that work - and more.

Managing Director Helen Down says "Our current business owners love it - telling us that mymarketingexpert takes their marketing out of the too hard basket and saves them so much time."

Just what we all need as we head towards what we all hope will be a busy Christmas sales period. Find out more about mymarketingexpert here . Take a 10 day free trial now. Register online or call 528 5214 today.

Autumn Reflections

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:06:00 +1300

Experience Upper Hutt recently gifted to the city of Upper Hutt a sculpture made of steel and acrylic materials which was designed by Chris Wilson and assisted by Mary Archibald. This tree is the first of four that will be erected throughout the city illustrating the four seasons. We want to thank Chris and Mary for their creative input and the time they invested in having the first sculpture erected from the design of the tree, getting building consent through to the construction. Great work ladies!

Upper Hutt Farmers' Market

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:00:00 +1300

As you all know, our authentic Farmers' Market opens on Sunday 1st of November from 9am til 1pm. The market will run every Sunday whether rain or shine and we hope it will become an important part of the Upper Hutt shopping experience.

The market will be held in Russell Street and if you want to become a stallholder please go to Registration and fill out the form and return to either myself or Chris Mills.

Christmas is just around the corner...

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:10:00 +1300

It's probably not what you want to hear right now, but it's time we started preparing for the festive season. This year we'll be celebrating Christmas with:

The Great Treasure Hunt
Santa's Parade
Artisans Market
The Best Dressed Shop Window Display

It's now time to start thinking about how you're going to be dressing up your window frontage to lure in all those Christmas Shoppers. So get out the spray-on snow, the tinsel, Christmas trees and angels and make it look inviting and fun for the shoppers. We'll be judging all the shop fronts and awarding the three Best-Dressed windows - prizes to be announced shortly.

Shop Hours

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:30:00 +1300

As you all know, we need to have some consistency in the hours that our retailers keep - we have some shops that stay open for a late night and some that don't. So I am proposing that we all meet and discuss how we can work together to add value to the shopping experience in Upper Hutt. I am proposing a meeting for retailers only, week commencing Monday 26 October. Drop me a line and let me know whether you are available that week and whether you can attend.

Let's become a united business community and pull out all the stops to make our shops successful.