Fourteenth Ave Dairy owner is planning to sell the shop after 30 years old. Photo / George Novak
Fourteenth Ave Dairy owner is planning to sell the shop after 30 years old. Photo / George Novak
Stepping up to the 14th Ave Dairy is like stepping back in a time machine with the classic flat-roof and blue exterior many associate with getting icecream or the newspaper.
The store, built in the 1950s, was last year approached by Air New Zealand for a video campaign for Christmas.
The dairy has been owned by Phil Boyte for 30 years, celebrating the third decade in July this year.
What's kept him going is the people - the staff and loyal customers - but the 71-year-old has decided it's time to hand over the keys and sell it in the next few months.
Every year, "a little old lady", a valued Scottish customer, would bring a birthday card to him on the anniversary, one of thousands of the customers who have grown to be like family.
He said it's the way he and others have known it, "and I've never been one for a change anyway", he laughed.
Fourteenth Ave Dairy featured in an Air New Zealand campaign last year, chosen for its authentic look. Photo / Supplied
People come in saying they love the smell of it, saying it smelt like the old dairies, he said, although he couldn't pinpoint it after spending a good portion of the last few decades in there.
"If it ain't broke don't fix it."
There were still customers who had been coming since they opened, and seeing the same faces made the customers like a family.
Having such loyal customers was "fantastic".
He said he's always enjoyed interacting with others, with the yarns that come out of a day an important aspect of why he's loved the job so much.
"I'm probably a typical sort of Kiwi, I like my rugby and my beer, and most of the people around here are like that too.
"They give me a few tips, and I give them a few tips ... a bit of good banter."
He's relied on them a lot, he says, and they've been "great the whole time".
Boyte said over the years, the locals grew to know him, and he to know them, and it was almost like a little community meeting point.
"There's something about the local dairy where people can come in and see others that they know.
"Often, I'm here watching some other people have a natter out and catching up before I serve them.
In his time, he's seen the price of milk increase "at least three, four, five-fold".
Fourteenth Ave Dairy owner Phil Boyte hoped to sell the shop in the next few months. Photo / George Novak
"I often tell the current milk guy that back in the day, when I first started here, I was spending $1000 a week on milk."
Now, he spent up to $600 on milk because as prices rose, more people chose chain supermarkets as the place to get the cheaper option.
Back then, there wasn't really competition for him - no nearby supermarkets or grocers. This changed, and impacted the way people shopped, he said.
But since Covid-19, business has picked up.
Boyte put this down to the elderly being more nervous of entering busy supermarkets and people wanting to support local, which he said was "pretty nice".
As hard as it would be to say goodbye to everyone, he said it's time to hand over the reins for someone else to enjoy.
