Neale & Haddow was a big hardware store on Trafalgar Street. There was another big hardware store, Wilkins & Field. The latter became a franchise of the big chain, Mitre 10; I'm not sure if this eventually forced Neale & Haddow to close. Anyway, in the last decade, W&F's Mitre 10 was the only hardware store in Nelson's central business district.Around April 2006, Mitre 10 moved out about 10 minutes West and opened a Mega Store, and closed their store in the city. Feeling the need for at least a place where people can buy nails and a hammer, the current owner resurrected the name Neale & Haddow, this time on Rutherford Street. He intends to have a blurb on the history of Neale and Haddow in the shop in the future.
There's no lavish outdoor furniture, no spa bath, no barbecues, but the shop has everything you might need to fix a few things around the house, or apply a new coat of paint. And the owner's son lives upstairs.
Here are a few shots of the interior.
And... a surprising fact about what I might have seen from the Arts Council loo window found here in the fourth paragraph starting with "When we got to...".
Oh! Here is the exterior to your hardware store--very charming!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness Meg, what a saga...I hope your showing goes well. How exciting to show everyone your talent.
ReplyDeleteI love this little hardware store. Mega certainly fills a need but small is more intimate and people actually talk to you.
Thanks Meg for a good shot and a good story!
ReplyDeleteIts so good to have a bit of history behind the photo of a good building.
Cheers
Charming photo. I love those old buildings.
ReplyDeletethe exterior looks really special, i would definitely shop there!
ReplyDeleteIt IS inviting, isn't it? I love old buildings/houses. I wonder if the ugly modern buildings being built now is one day going to be charming and inviting also!?
ReplyDeleteI wonder, does anybody by the surname of Haddow truely run this quaint little business?? Interestingly enough my great grandfather was a Haddow and he and his sons ran an enterprising little hardware store in North Melbourne (Australia) for 125 years. What a coincidence!
ReplyDeleteI hope this shop lasts as long.
Gee, Andy, what a coincidence, indeed. Unfortunately they've been gone for a while. Not exactly an ideal spot in town as you'd have to walk two whole blocks from the main drag. I can't remember the story, but the folk who ran this particular shop, from memory, were not Neales nor Haddows, but they took the name from an old (oldest?) hardware store in Nelson. Something like that.
ReplyDeleteAndy,
ReplyDeleteI actually worked on the renovation of the Haddow hardware back in 1992/93. We ripped the guts out so to speak, and found many old papers and artifacts from the old store. It was really interesting, I still have some old scales and even some old purchase orders and delivery orders dating in the 1800's. A neat thing during the reno was that we found some old writing and drawing on the staircase wall, really cool drawings of ships with names and dates etc. Rather than paint over them we decided to lacker the walls to preverse the history. The owners loved it. I see the place is up for sale now, you should check it out.
ND
Goodness, I hate to say this, but I believe the methadone clinic has resided in the building for the last 6-12 months.
ReplyDeleteHi Meg, I'm refering to the North Melbourne Haddows. It's on sale for 1.6mln.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Sale/House/VIC/North-Melbourne/?adid=2009242762
Follow the link, you can see some photos.
ND.
Oh, let me get my petty cash biscuit tin!
ReplyDelete