By ALISON BROWN in Rotorua
It was a trip down memory lane for about 100 former and present Farmers' staff who gathered in Rotorua to celebrate the department store's 35-year history.
The reunion, on Saturday night at the Hinemoa St store, was a chance for staff to reflect on days gone by, while looking to the future. Next month Farmers will start operating out of its new site at the Rotorua Central Mall.
Products from the family store and Farmer's Home Centre will be shifted into the new site over two weeks, ahead of its opening in the middle of February.
Store manager John Porteous said staff had mixed emotions about moving: "The [Hinemoa St] building is a very tired old building, so it will be nice to move into something a lot bigger and nicer," he said. "But it's sad as well, because this site has a lot of history and people have built up relationships here over the years."
Among those toasting Farmers' past and future on Saturday was Joseph Hudson, a Home Centre salesman who has worked for the company in Rotorua for 25 years.
Farmers opened in Rotorua in small premises on Hinemoa St in 1971. As neighbouring stores closed, Farmers expanded, eventually occupying about 4370sq m. The company opened its Home Centre store about four years ago on Tutanekai St, following the closure of DEKA.
The Tutanekai St site will be used as a clearance store for Farmers after the Home Centre closes.
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