Alison, Tara and the friendships formed around a Queen Street business
Tara, Alison and Teddy in their colourful crafty store.
There’s a new wave of sewers, knitters and crafters emerging in Waimate and at the centre is a main street business that has become far more than just a shop.
Over the past four years, mother-daughter team Tara Greenhalgh and Alison Gillespie have attracted a fun and creative community around Centrepoint Craft and Fabrics.
People pop in for advice and to learn new skills, they return to show what they’ve made - and some of them never leave.
So how did this dynamic duo do it?
We headed straight for the back room - the unofficial headquarters of Waimate’s growing crafting community - for a yarn to find out more.
From Brisbane to the main street
Waimate has always been home for Alison and Tara.
Even when Tara spent 12 years living in Brisbane after finishing at University of Otago, the urge to return home was there. Her nieces and nephew were getting older and she felt like she was missing out on family time.
When Alison had knee replacement surgery and Tara returned home to help, she realised the time was right.
“That kind of confirmed it for me,” Tara says.
Tara saw a sign
The company Tara works for had plans to expand into New Zealand, so returning home initially came with plans to relocate to Christchurch.
She arrived back in Waimate not long before Covid hit.
“I was still planning on heading to Christchurch but one day I saw a For Sale sign in the Centrepoint Craft and Fabrics window on Queen Street,” Tara says.
The previous owner, Heather, told her she’d be “perfect for it”.
“Owning a craft shop was something I wanted to do when I’m ‘way older’. I love fabric and I’ve always been into quilting. Half of my shipping container from Brisbane was filled with a sewing machine and fabric!”
Tara mentioned the idea to Alison on a Friday and by Monday they made the decision to buy it.
Alison laughs. “I said, ‘I can be your shop girl and Teddy can be the shop dog’.”
And that’s exactly what’s happened.
These days, Tara still works for the same Australian company.
From the back room of the Queen Street store, she manages a team of five staff based in New Zealand, Queensland, and Western Australia.
With fibre internet and flexible workplaces, more people are choosing a slower, more affordable regional lifestyle, managing careers from places like Waimate.
Learning on the job
They took over the business on 8 December, 2022, with no retail experience between them.
Alison had spent 16 years working as a caregiver at Lister Home, so with her people skills she naturally found herself front of house, with Teddy. Tara works from the back room and steps in when needed.
They laugh when describing why they work so well together.
“We’re completely different,” they say.
Like many new business owners, they learnt as they went.
“When we first started, if we didn’t know the answer we asked Google,” Tara says.
“If someone asked how much fabric they needed for a dress, Google helped us out.”
Taking it to the streets on Worldwide Knit in Public Day in June.
Handmade is making a comeback
They’ve noticed a growing interest in traditional crafts, especially among younger people, driven in part by platforms like Tik Tok and YouTube.
“I love seeing the young ones coming through and taking up crafts,” Alison says.
They also love it when people come back to ask for advice or show them what they’ve created.
“We love a show and tell,” Tara says.
One local mum, even turned her hobby into an online business after regularly popping in for advice while learning to sew baby clothing.
“She’s Tara’s success story,” Alison laughs.
The back room effect
Tara and Alison never expected the friendships that would come with the business.
One of those people is Sara Davis, who wandered into the shop shortly after moving to Waimate.
“Hi, I like to make stuff,” she announced.
And, according to Tara and Alison, she’s never really left.
These days Sara does contract knitting through the store, creating woollen garments for customers who don’t knit themselves.
Tara, Sara, Teddy and Alison in the back room.
Shop takeover
Every second Thursday evening, the back room fills for the Stitch and Bitch group, where people gather to create and unwind after a busy week.
“There’s never really any bitching,” they laugh.
These friends were horrified at the thought of the shop closing for ten days recently when Tara and Alison headed to Rarotonga for a holiday.
So, four of the group put themselves on a roster and ran the shop for free while they were away, including looking after Teddy.
Tara laughs about the roster
“They didn’t stick to it, they were there everyday”.
“They had a great time” Alison said, “Kerrin said it was the best job she’d ever had.”
The group is currently at capacity but if you’re interested pop in and have a chat.
Backing wool
From hand-knitted clothes and toys to felted animals and handmade gifts, wool products have become a growing focus in the store. Possibly as more people become aware of the benefits of natural fibres, and the consequences of synthetic fibres and microplastics.
In fact, Centrepoint and neighbouring business, The Quirky Magpie, are currently celebrating Wool Week.
When asked whether it was part of an official campaign, Tara laughed.
“Oh no, we just made it up.”
Lorraine from The Quirky Magpie, shares a back entrance with Centrepoint and plenty of creative energy.
“Lorraine has all the big ideas - she’s the creative one,” Tara laughs. “I’m the one who’s good at numbers.”
The Quirky Magpie brings plenty of foot traffic through Queen Street, with the two businesses feeding naturally off each other.
Knitting with purpose
Centrepoint has a network of charity knitters who regularly make clothing and blankets for premature babies and families in need.
After recently putting the call out on Facebook for people to knit Peggy squares for blankets, the response was overwhelming, with 350 squares arriving back at the store.
Finished items are regularly donated through organisations including Plunket, Jean Todd and Annie’s Angels.
“People want to knit, but might have no one to knit for,” Alison says.
“They also love knowing what they make is helping someone else.”
The Centrepoint difference
The best shopping experiences still come from walking into a store and talking to real people.
Especially people like Tara and Alison, and shop dog Teddy.
Whether you’re an experienced maker or thinking about picking up your first knitting needles, we recommend you pop in and have a yarn.
And if you can’t make it down Queen Street, their online store and local delivery service mean help is never too far away.
So go on, learn something new, make something by hand and become part of Waimate’s growing creative community.