Eye for style earns retail rewards

By IRENE CHAPPLE

When Simon Fulton became retail assistant at Wellington boutique menswear store Rixon Groove, his natural eye for style caught the manager's attention.

Gordon May, a dapper Englishman known for selling zany ties on the streets during the 1980s, had found his protege.

Within a year, Mr Fulton was made Rixon Groove manager. He became the first employee Mr May trusted to buy material for the high-quality products.

And when Mr May moved back to the UK, Mr Fulton and partner Darryl Pike were given a package deal.

"I think my boss may have been grooming me," says Mr Fulton.

"It didn't come entirely out of the blue that he was moving on, but he must have been thinking about it in some depth as he came up with a proposal.

"I remember thinking it was very interesting - I think he wanted to pass the shop on to someone who would look after it. Rixon Groove was his little baby."

Mr Fulton had not run a shop before. He said: "I'd never had that sort of responsibility before.

"When I look back, I was quite stunned. I remember thinking - how does one buy a business?"

Mr Pike is an archivist, Mr Fulton is an experienced tempura chef who also dabbles in pencil portraits.

They now jointly own Rixon Groove, although Mr Fulton is the more visible partner. He spends part of his working week at the factory, and the rest on the shop floor. Mr Pike continues his archiving work.

The two have moved Rixon Groove to central Wellington's Old Bank Arcade and stamped the shop with their original style. Business, says Mr Fulton, is booming.

Untrained in fashion, but with an interest fostered by Sky's Fashion TV and glossy magazines, Mr Fulton's progression from retailer to successful owner has been buoyed by instinct.

He gained his business nous from buying fabric while on the shop-floor.

"When I started fabric buying I got a sense of what a garment costs. I was choosing a cloth and started getting a head for figures.

"It took me longer to get my head around the costs for ties - some of the fine woven cloths from Europe and silk imports from Germany can reach £50 ($172) a metre."

But quality is integral to Rixon Groove's reputation, and the deal wouldn't have been clinched unless Mr Fulton and Mr Pike knew they could maintain it.

They grilled Mr May on his inside knowledge of the business - and the international hot spots for tie cloth.

"He drew maps of the foreign towns, where the shops were and even what bus to catch," says Mr Fulton.

The two now go on buying trips together, and have discovered their own favourites.

"When you work in fashion retail, you become aware of trends," says Mr Fulton. "We listen to what people are asking for, what colour or cloth they want.

"We like to have diversity in the shop, and we have garments you can look after with a gentle cold wash - so people don't have to dryclean their shirts all the time."

The move from Woodward St was also pushed by Mr Fulton's intuition. He has watched the city change, and says the cosy side street lost its fashion heart.

While it was once a favourite destination for the fashion literati, a pull to the city centre and The Terrace now sways foot traffic.

In the Old Bank Arcade, Rixon Groove fraternises with luminaries such as Workshop, Minnie Cooper and Zambesi Man.

The 100-year-old Arcade - revamped for $26 million and opened in 1999 - has become a magnet for fashion and tourism.

The move was smart, says Mr Fulton. Rent is steeper, but on Saturdays, two floor staff can barely keep up with demand. Made-to-measure orders are booming, and garments are requested by customers in the UK, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.

In the shop, Mr Fulton and Mr Pike have slicked up the Rixon Groove image with glass shelves and a midnight blue and off-white colour scheme.

"It's a more luxurious, boutique look," says Mr Fulton.

"We wanted to provide something unique, and now it feels like the shop is ours."