New shops, cafe join the Arts Centre

Four new retailers are moving into the Arts Centre in October bringing desserts, stationery and designer gifts to the heritage area.

The new tenants for the Boys’ High building on Worcester Boulevard are Shopology, Pepa stationery boutique, Rollickin Gelato and Frances Nation.

Local success story Rollickin Gelato is opening its second Christchurch café on the ground floor of the Boy’s High building and will also occupy the street-front terrace where owner Jed Joyce plans to install a communal table.

“We’re calling it ‘The Longest Table’ and it won’t just be for customers – it’ll be for anyone who’s walking down Worcester Boulevard who wants to sit and soak up the atmosphere,” Mr Joyce says. “We see it as a great way to create an entrance to Boys’ High and inject life into the boulevard.”

Pepa stationery is opening soon at the Arts Centre.

The café will sell Rollickin Gelato’s signature, hand-made gelato and sorbet, along with coffee and sweet cabinet food. There will also be a chocolate fountain that’s bigger than the one at the original New Regent St café.

Shopology, opening upstairs on Sunday 1 October, will sell original products, including fashion, gifts, jewellery, homewares, art and food, made by up-and-coming designers and businesses.

The two Cantabrians behind the store are keen to give boutique, local designers and businesses a platform for selling their wares.  “There are a lot of small businesses that cannot make the leap to retail with the standard mark-up charges and high rents,” says co-owner Sarah Gamble. 

“We’re excited about the potential for the Arts Centre to become a vibrant retail shopping precinct within a larger creative hub, all encased within gorgeous Canterbury heritage buildings,” Ms Gamble says.

Opening on 14 October Pepa (Māori for paper) will sell beautiful stationery from around the world. The store will feature writing tables with views out the historic building’s windows – encouraging customers to take a seat and write. It also offers in-house postal and gift-wrapping services. 

Frances Nation, named after the owner’s grandmother, is a small shop specialising in New Zealand-made homewares and handcrafted gifts. Natural materials and traditional techniques are a focus, with the store stocking useful products from around the country, including beeswax candles, ceramic dining ware, natural soaps and skincare.