Santreno Shoes shifting after 25 years at same Whangarei location

Santreno Shoes owners Trent and Sandi Oxenham busy preparing for this weekend's shift to new premises. Photo / Michael Cunningham

A Whangarei shoe shop is on the move after 25 years at its current location.

Santreno Shoes is moving down Cameron St at the end of this week to the former Shanton store near Dickens Inn.

Owners Trent and Sandi Oxenham and staff, including long serving employees Leonte Fielden (25 years) and Andrea Bowsell (15 years), are very excited about the relocation to a bigger and brighter store just six doors down the road.

Sandi says that when Santreno's lease expired they looked around for options and the new building ticked all the boxes.

"With more room we will be able to stock more styles and brands and increase the range of handbags," she said.

Sandi's parents Don and Shirley Julian opened the shoe store, then named Payless shoes, 25 years ago after selling their butcher shop in Kerikeri.

When they retired 15 year ago, Sandi and Trent bought the business and are "very proud to bring beautiful shoes to the people of Whangarei".

"Being locally owned is so important because we have a more personal relationship with all of our customers and can offer good old fashioned service," Sandi said. "Between us all we have 80-plus years of shoe experience which is invaluable when it comes to advising customers about the correct footwear choices."

Sandi said buying shoes online is a very hit and miss process and you can only really get the correct fit in store.

She says they came up with the name Santreno by combining their names - San - (Sandi), Tren - (Trent) and O - (Oxenham).

The new store opens on May 1.