Murray Watts Mansworld in Tauranga's CBD closes its doors

Murray and Jill Watts. Photo / Zoe Hunter

Murray Watts likes to have fun. He got a job at a menswear store as a teenager to fill in time before rugby training. It was that much fun he's stayed in the industry - and the Tauranga CBD - ever since. He has been the name and the face behind Murray Watts Mansworld for more than two decades. Now, the 73-year-old is "hanging up his trousers". Zoe Hunter reports on why Murray Watts Mansworld is closing and what's next for Murray and his wife and "best friend" Jill.

Murray Watts likes to have fun. The shirt he is wearing says it all.

"This?" he says pulling at the bottom of his pure cotton, paisley printed top.

"It's a bit of colour," he says.

Watts, 73, knows all about men's fashion. He's been in the industry for 56 years.

Now, the doors to Murray Watts Mansworld - the business he has owned for 22 years - will close at the end of the month.

"It's time to hang up my trousers ... It's been a fantastic journey."

The journey began when 17-year-old Watts landed a job in menswear store Hallensteins on the corner of Wharf and Willow streets in 1966.

"That was my first job," he says. "I kind of just fell into it. I went to school to eat my lunch. I enjoyed playing sport, rugby was the focus of life really. A job was just something to do before rugby training."

He has been in the industry and the Tauranga CBD ever since.

After Hallensteins, Watts worked at two other men's fashion stores on The Strand - Paul O'Briens and the Wilson Brothers.

In 1982, he and business partner Zayne Pennell bought Avon Barr Mansworld at 4 Grey St.

"That's where the 'mansworld' name came from."

Not long after Watts went out on his own and moved down the road to 36 Grey St 22 years ago.

"Here we are, the last resting spot."

Closing down is not something he and wife Jill decided suddenly, he says.

"It's a planned exit. It's always been when you get to the end of that right of renewal you've got to give it some serious thought before you move on to the next part."

It is just time to move on, he says.

He has met some wonderful people along the way.

"A lot of our customers have become our friends. They're magnificent people.

"The most important thing to happen to the business is the people who come through the door."

Murray Watts Mansworld on Grey St has closed. Photo / George Novak

In 1968, he met the love of his life Jill.

"We had a great courtship in the town. She lived on Second Ave and I lived up on Wharf St.

"We finally got married and she's my best friend."

Watts says the pair have always worked well together.

"We have simple rules. I'm the boss here and she's the boss at home," he says with a chuckle. "I couldn't have done it without her."

It's the people who have kept him in the job.

"I have always been interested in having fun. When I could see that I could possibly own my own business it just went on from there. It became a nice way of life for Jill and I."

But the "fun" hasn't come without its challenges and hard work along the way.

Like many business owners, he and Jill started the company from scratch.

"When you come into business and you've got nothing financially it's a huge challenge.

"Jill and I are just ordinary people who come from humble backgrounds. We've never had too much so we've had to borrow as we've gone along.

"That's the biggest challenge in being in business is meeting your commitments - your staff, your landlord. Then of course you've got to try and make a profit too. That is not a dirty word."

But he says common sense is a trick of the trade.

"I have made a lot of mistakes I can assure you. But you're always learning about things."

Men's fashion has evolved and he's had to stay on trend.

"When you're a menswear buyer you have got to have a very broad mind and buy from a wide spectrum. You think of what others might like.

"Men's fashion doesn't change dramatically. It just evolves. What we have got today we had in the 60s. It's all been done before.

"We've moved from the slim fit to the full fit and back to the slim fit. The classics in menswear are always there."

Watts says he has been fortunate to have had lots of training in the trade.

"It's not something you just go in one day and open up the door, it can be quite complex."

Unlike men's fashion trends, the CBD has changed "dramatically" since he first began working in the area.

"When I started, The Strand was the main retail street. In those days you had a 6 o'clock closing time."

New developments happening at Farmers and Devonport Rd also contributed to the "physical" change of the city centre, he says.

"It's going to look good."

But he says while the CBD has changed part of it still remain the same.

"People say the CBD will never die but the CBD will never die. You have got to have a CBD, you can't have an area without a CBD."

At the end of the month, Murray and Jill Watts will wake up not needing to go to work for the first time in decades. Their plan is to continue living life and having "fun".

Mainstreet Tauranga manager Millie Pidwell said the CBD has a "close and passionate community" of business owners.

Many, like Murray Watts Mansworld, have been long-standing and highly regarded businesses with a loyal clientelle, she says.

"So it is always with great sadness when we hear of a business closing.

"Murray Watts Mansworld have been a destination store for decades and they will be sorely missed. We thank them for the contribution they have made to our city centre and to public over the years."