{"id":309713,"date":"2026-03-02T18:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T18:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/309713\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T18:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T18:15:14","slug":"forget-lp-paeroa-is-the-antique-capital-of-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/309713\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget L&P – Paeroa is the ‘antique capital of New Zealand’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nIn 1993, Vivien Leonard decided Paeroa was the Antique Town of New Zealand.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

A train carriage turned house, racks of clown costumes, tools from decades past, plates and teacup-lined walls.<\/p>\n

These are the reminders of history you can find in Paeroa.<\/p>\n

With a population of 4600, the town markets itself as the ‘antique capital of New Zealand’.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nA train carriage turned home is what you can find at Shed & Co.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

In 1993, Vivien Leonard set up her first antique shop in the town in 1993, when there were only two antique shops and one second-hand store.<\/p>\n

“About 1995, when I thought, well, there’s no other town in New Zealand that’s got as many second-hand shops as Paeroa, and we only had 4000 people, so I called Paeroa the antique town of New Zealand. From 2020, really it was the antique town in New Zealand, it started to catch on.”<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nVivien Leonard opened her first antique shop in 1993.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

The town now has about seven antique shops and six second-hand stores.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nAccording to locals, the Saint Paul’s Op Shop has been in town for a long time.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

But behind the so-far-uncontested title, is an array of factors that kept the antique community growing.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nWith a population of 4600, Paeroa market itself as the Antique Capital of New Zealand.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

At the start, the council and Leonard did their part.<\/p>\n

“The council was good at supporting us and put the word out there. And I put it on my card, I wrote it on my car.”<\/p>\n

\"Close<\/p>\n

\nVivien Leonard’s antique shop is some people’s go-to for vintage and antique jewellery.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

Many other factors made space for antique shops.<\/p>\n

To the locals, Paeroa has always been a town with a reputation bigger than its population.<\/p>\n

Lawrie Smith, 89, and 82-year-old Gaye Cleave are part of the town’s historical society.<\/p>\n

They said the town was known as a transport hub, for its brewery, and later on, the L&P drink.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nFrom L-R: Gaye Cleave, Kae Petch, and Lawrie Smith are part of Paeroa’s historical society.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

Growing up, sewing factories and new furniture stores filled the streets, and buying second-hand, was uncommon for them.<\/p>\n

But Cleave said when the railway closed, and big retail pushed out independent stores, space opened up for antique shops to thrive.<\/p>\n

“Next door was Rodney Williams, when they closed down, it became the St John’s (op) shop. It seems to be that when shops [were] empty, people took the advantage and put antiques and op shops in them.”<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nSt John has a retail store in Paeroa, selling secondhand goods.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

Smith thinks Paeroa fared better than many other small towns across New Zealand.<\/p>\n

“In the peak of the downturn when the rail first went, we lost a lot of business. But now there’s probably less shops empty here than there is in a lot of other towns.”<\/p>\n

He has done maths. Paeroa has 220 shops, with just four currently sitting empty.<\/p>\n

And even those won’t stay that way for long.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

\nShed & Co’s Sam Annison loves old tools.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

Sam Annison, who runs Shed & Co, is looking to expand his presence in Paeroa.<\/p>\n

“I wouldn’t want to say too much just at the moment. There won’t be many empty shops in town soon.”<\/p>\n

Three years ago, Annison decided to sell his garden shed business and pursue his passion in second-hand goods.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nBusiness partners Sam Annison and Connie Riddle with Sam’s favorite secondhand find – a 1951 London Taxi.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

After a stint running his store in Waihi, he moved his business to Paeroa.<\/p>\n

“Paeroa has always been known as the second-hand capital of New Zealand. I really don’t know how it all started, but I do know that I’d just love to come and join in.”<\/p>\n

The welcoming community has also attracted newcomers like Just Plane Interesting, bringing clown costumes and M&M collectibles to the main street.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nClown cosutmes are what you can find in the Paeroa secondhand stores.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

After running his West Auckland business for 26 years, owner Raymond May is ready to make Paeroa his permanent home.<\/p>\n

“There’s so many different people, kindred spirits, and so many beautiful things to look at down there. And it’s in the middle of everything.”<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nRaymond May has been running Just Plane Interesting in Auckland for 26 years.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

He told RNZ he had been invited to join the Paeroa antique community years ago, but at that time, he had just bought a building in Thames and was planning to settle there.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately a stoush with the local council over his facade renovation saw him pack up in disappointment.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nM & M collectibles are another find on Paeroa’s main street.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

So far, his interactions with the Hauraki District Council had been pleasant.<\/p>\n

“No one comes in and dictates to you. They just let you do what you want to do. It was just refreshing.”<\/p>\n

Among the newcomers is Lisa Wellington who opened her own op shop two months ago.<\/p>\n

“I was working in an op shop that closed down, so I opened my own. As we make profits, we will donate back to the community instead of going out of town.”<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nLisa Wellington opened Funky Finds Op Shop.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

She said the business community is supportive of each other, and she’s not worried about profit or competition.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

\nAfter 20 or so years, the Antique Capital title is catching on with many customers visiting Paeroa for secondhand shopping.
\nPhoto: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ\n<\/p>\n

“Everybody knows everybody. Everyone’s helpful and tries to help the customer rather than themselves. So I think the town does well from that.”<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 1993, Vivien Leonard decided Paeroa was the Antique Town of New Zealand. Photo: Ke-Xin Li\/RNZ A train…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-309713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}