Masterton-born Zip Plumbing owner Stan Juchnowicz wants to test the warm waters of Wairarapa's business boom with a market-evaluating three-day sale this weekend.
"We're going to gauge what business is like over here and just see what's happening in the business sector by all accounts it's booming," Mr Juchnowicz
said.
The Wellington-based company recently acquired the property, formerly army surplus store the Bunker, on the corner of Dixon and Church streets, Masterton, and the sale runs from Friday until Sunday.
"If it goes really well there is an opportunity for us to keep it going," he said.
He said the three-day trial took three weeks to set up with the building's painting and modifications.
It's not the first time the firm have used the market-testing tactic; stores in New Plymouth and Paraparumu were started in the same way.
Mr Juchnowicz said the firm had considered the exploratory move into the Wairarapa market because of demand from locals travelling to Wellington to shop.
"We get a lot of people from Wairarapa at our Wellington city shop and they say there's just not enough choice in Wairarapa we're here for the locals to give them some variety," he said.
"We're pretty confident we're going to stay, I'm keen on the area, having been born here," Mr Juchnowicz, who spent the first five years of his life at Cockburn Street, said.
"The way things are going all the big names are here and we can't see why we can't be successful here."
He said Zip Plumbing are an independent business that stocks New Zealand-made products, unlike many of his trade rivals who are Australian-owned and import goods from China.
"We try to support New Zealand companies, we're pretty parochial," he said.
