The Made of Manukau pop-up retail experience returns to Te Haa o Manukau just in time for Christmas. Its aim is to support small South Auckland businesses while encouraging Māori and Pasifika to explore social entrepreneurship.
Thirty Māori and Pasifika South Auckland retailers are featured this year at Made of Manukau, most of the merchants are also under the age of 40.
The pop-up space was the brainchild of Manawa Udy (Te Arawa, Tainui, Mataatua). Udy is also the director and founder of Ngahere Communities based at Te Haa o Manukau, a co-working space for forward-thinking entrepreneurs and an event space for businesses.
"Bringing the pop-up store back this year means we can support local, meaning that our local consumers are backing our local retailers, putting resources and support back into our local South Auckland community, while also getting some unique and meaningful gifts for their loved ones," Manawa says.
Following the successful launch of this initiative in 2018 which saw 23 local South-Auckland vendors earn almost $10,000 collectively, Manawa is optimistic about Made of Manukau flourishing saying it's encouraging for our rangatahi to see.
"It's an opportunity for everyone but more so for rangatahi to hopefully see that they can be entrepreneurs and if they have a business idea that they should stick with it," she says.
Backed by Te Puni Kōkiri, Shopify and The Prince’s Trust New Zealand, the experience has opened doors for focused training and support for vendors.
Julian Bartram from Shopify has been on-board to provide one-on-one training with digital sales on their online platform to complement the retail store, www.madeofmanukau.nz
He says, “Being able to help these amazing humans be seen online and in real life is really exciting and I can’t wait to see the whole of Manukau coming out to support these locals.”
Customers have been bee-lining to the Made of Manukau pop-up since Saturday but there are only a few days left. The shop will close on December 20.