A perfect fit
Owner of an iconic Tauranga store, Wendy Simister of Wendys Boutique, celebrates 40 years in fashion.
words Nicky Adams | photos Jahl Marshall
Preconceptions are tricky to shake, so when meeting Wendy Simister, with her beaming smile and gentle manner, it’s hard to believe that she’s a businesswoman celebrating 40 years of running her own fashion store, Wendys Boutique. If proof was needed that it’s possible to possess business acumen and the kindest of natures, look no further than Wendy.
The second of four daughters, at just 18 years old Wendy began working in Maison Monique, a local premium ladies' store. With a core value of hard work drilled into her by her parents, it wasn’t long before Wendy thought about owning her own premises. Although young, she had been taught, “With drive and determination you can do anything.” By 21, Wendy had opened her own fashion boutique. With 17-year-old sister Sandy by her side, the doors were opened to the same premises on Eleventh Avenue that Wendys Boutique still operates from today. “We laughed our way through the day, but I remember wondering if we would actually sell anything,” Wendy recalls.
Forty years ago, this area was considered the outskirts of town: “It was all I could afford, but I always thought if people wanted to come shopping they would travel. It was about the experience.” Wendy was clear on her direction and had always appreciated beautifully made clothes; “I wanted things that were different, but that aligned with what I liked as well,” she explains. Trawling Auckland for stock, paid for upfront and brought back in the boot of her car, she says, “I tried to get things that weren’t readily available in Tauranga.”
From the get-go Wendy had her finger on the pulse, even down to having the foresight it took to build up a database from the very start. “I used to handwrite newsletters to my customers – you just didn’t have the technology. I’ve always tried to personalise everything. Of course, fashion and the business side of things are very important, but above all it’s the people – the customers, the staff, the ones you surround yourself with. Because they’re your network of support and there’s always a seesaw where you need help, or you give help.
Wendy’s strengths undoubtedly lie in inspiring loyalty and continuity in her team. When sister Sandy left to travel 12 years after the launch of the business, her other sister Sally came to work in the back office, and stayed as a sounding board, buying buddy, and PA until her passing last year. Wendy remembers the time her now adult children (Matt and Hannah) were young, being busy business ones. “We very quickly grew to quite a big team. At one point it was all-consuming. There were a couple of times I was asked to franchise but I couldn’t see how I could do that. The biggest component is the people factor, and you can’t just duplicate that.”
Wendy’s strong bond extends to suppliers and designers; among too many to mention, Loobie’s Story and Trelise Cooper are labels with whom Wendy shares a long history, that has crossed into friendship with owners/designers Laurinda and Trelise. Wendy is emphatic: “Both have just done so much for New Zealand fashion.” Laurinda, she says, has amazing vision when she creates her collections, and Trelise “is so incredibly creative, I hold her in such high regard.” Loyalty and support characterise these relationships – “it’s very much a two-way business with suppliers – and a mutual respect for what the other is trying to achieve. When suppliers went online they were effectively in competition, but you could either take it the wrong way or see it as the way of the future.”
With the advent of the internet came the explosion of online shopping and access to global fashion. Wendy is quick to identify changemakers and will adopt new strategies at lightning speed. Always trying to be ahead of the curve has been a deliberate methodology. I wonder if she’s a risk-taker, which she ponders
for a moment – “Probably, but not too intensely. At the end of each season, I evaluate everything. I take notice of others, but I always want to do something original. I’m already thinking about what hasn’t been done before – which sounds crazy now with the internet. I’m forever grateful I knew instinctively that setting up the online store was the right thing to do. And I’m not scared of change.”
One aspect of Wendy's longevity has been accommodating her loyal clientele and their trend-led needs, while simultaneously embracing a new demographic. Her solution was to open Tilda on Mount Main Street in 2015. I wonder why she didn’t just trade on her already successful name and open a second Wendys, but she says, “I thought that it was a good opportunity to bring in new brands and a younger feel.”
I wonder if she would consider whether she has made many mistakes over
the years. “I’ve made so many! But experience is knowledge. You don’t
learn if you don’t make mistakes. Things might not go as well as you’d hoped, and you must always be prepared for a rainy day. But the great thing about fashion
is that you get the chance to start again each season.” While Wendy may give the impression of having sailed along, buoyed by her naturally sunny personality, it’s clear that her keen mind and intelligence, along with a never-ending thirst for knowledge, have been trusty tools in her toolbox. Far from jaded, she seems as passionate as she would have been 40 years ago, with her joy for the industry as undimmed as her smile. As she says with total conviction: “I love people and I love fashion.”
