Tiny bread shop rises to occasion when needed

Jenny Carter has no plans to upsize to a larger space in Raglan township.

Cosy or just plain claustrophobic?

A Raglan bread shop renowned for its tasty sourdough loaves is nothing if not minute.

The "tiny, tiny" Ruapuke Artisan Bread store on the Waikato township's main street occupies a floor space of just 2.4sq m.

At its widest point Jenny Carter's premises is no longer than a bed and a large dog would struggle to turn around in its confined 1.2 by 2sq m approximate dimensions.

The 57-year-old has been selling her homebaked wares from the hole-in-the-wall shop for the past three years, which she leases for a cheap but undisclosed rate.

"I'm a fairly buxom sort of a woman and I just about take up the whole shop," she says.

"Raglan is quite a funky place and I think it fits Raglan quite well."

The Weekend Herald reported on central Auckland gelato store Lalele which has just started trading from a 4sq m "broom closet" at 350 Queen St. But following the story emails about Ms Carter's 15 Bow St mini-shop, which one reader commented "would be too small for a toilet", flowed in.

Ms Carter said her pint-size business was a talking point among locals and visitors often stopped to take photos.

Though you could squeeze a second person in the shop, she was fortunately a one-woman band and had no plans to upsize to a larger space.

"Sometimes we get so washed up in thinking big and flash, but we don't really need it."

Sandwiched in a former alley between Trade Aid and Frocking Gorgeous, the shop used to be a trolley delivery point for a former greengrocer.

It was later used as a storage area before Ms Carter spied it while selling bread on the footpath and thought: "Damn, I could be sitting in there nice and warm."

The business came about through necessity, after Ms Carter was laid off from a previous job.

"There's no work in Raglan, not at my age. So I decided one day 'I'm going to make sourdough bread'."

The Herald was alerted to other tiny shops around the Auckland CBD following Saturday's story.

They include La Boulange at 32 Lorne St, a "micro cafe" selling espresso coffee and French bakery treats from a space a similar size to the Raglan bread shop.

Hot chip specialist Dip It will soon open in an even smaller space on the corner of Queen and Rutland Sts.