AS Colour is opening its first store in the Bay of Plenty at Bayfair Shopping Centre in Mount Maunganui.
AS Colour is opening its first store in the Bay of Plenty at Bayfair Shopping Centre in Mount Maunganui.
A New Zealand apparel brand is set to open its first store in Tauranga next month.
AS Colour will open its 16th retail showroom in New Zealand, after recent openings in Ponsonby and Christchurch.
It was founded in Auckland in 2005 by managing director Lawrence Railton, when hisfriends in a band needed plain, black T-shirts.
Now, the brand has expanded globally, operating 27 retail stores and six distribution centres in Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
AS Colour specialises in blank apparel to be screen or digitally printed for uniforms and promotional and corporate merchandise.
She said there was a strong demand for the brand in the region, which had a “growing, vibrant community”, and felt it made sense to develop retail in these growing regions.
“People are chasing that relaxed, active lifestyle, which you guys [Tauranga] luckily offer and with that comes an exciting economic growth.”
Wooff said community engagement was “super important” and found this was essential to the success of the brand in New Zealand and internationally.
AS Colour retail operations manager, Monica Wooff.
“It’s all about community and telling those stories, and we’re excited for that in Tauranga.”
Chief executive Clive Ormerod has been involved with the building and planning of the new Bayfair store.
He said AS colour didn’t have any stores between south of Auckland and north of Wellington.
“New Zealand is our spiritual home. This is an opportunity for us to grow our retail footprint into a part of New Zealand where we know there is demand for our product.”
Ormerod said the offering at Bayfair was “very strong” with a critical mass of other good retailers.
He told the Bay of Plenty Times they had been shipping product to the Bay of Plenty for “a long time” and had some “big” trade customers in the area.
“I think it’s [Tauranga] got a good vibe, close to the beach, outdoor lifestyle, and a growing community with more and more people moving.”
AS Colour provides blank apparel for artists, decorators and creators.
According to Infometrics, Tauranga City’s population was 161,300 in 2024, up 1.5% from a year earlier.
Population growth in Tauranga City averaged 2.0% over the five years to 2024, compared with 1.2% in New Zealand.
Mount Maunganui had a population of 21,840 in 2024 - the second largest area in the Tauranga-Western Bay region behind Pāpāmoa Beach.
AS Colour partnered with local businesses and artists for the Mount Maunganui opening, including Special Mention café, Steven Kirkby (Parkby Projects), and Plastisol Prints.
Bayfair Shopping Centre manager Steve Ellingford said the centre was “thrilled” to welcome AS Colour.
“Marking another milestone in our evolving retail mix and its first store in the region.”
Ellingford said the addition of AS Colour highlighted the shopping centre’s role as the key retail destination in the region, offering the community access to renowned brands.
“Tauranga’s growing population and vibrant economy make it an attractive destination for well-known retailers.”
Kaitlyn Morrell is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.
