Take a peek at the Uneek

Hari Graham at Uneek Home Decor in Hastings. Photo / Paul Taylor

I didn't know where to look first when I entered Uneek Home Decor in Southland Rd, Hastings.

There were pops of colour that kept catching my eye and then I spied a pretty vase and made a beeline for that. It's one of those places that you could spend a good hour browsing.

Owners Hari and Shane Graham are no strangers to running a business. The couple owned the Tile Shop on the same site for years.

Hari said they worked long, gruelling hours.

"There was never a dull moment that's for sure. There would be tradies coming and going, orders coming in which meant we had to measure this and that. It was dirty-down hard yakka and at the end of the day I would have nothing left in me.

"We had a goal, though, and that was to work hard and retire early. People around us were dying. Working hard all their lives and then, just as my parents had, not had the chance to enjoy the fruits of all that work. So we sold the Tile Shop, which was eventually relocated."

In the meantime, Hari was getting a little bit bored of retirement.

"We own the building, so when the Tile Shop moved I started to think about opening another business. About 25 years ago we had an import business so I knew a bit about it.

"Also over the years Shane and I had travelled extensively. We love travel. On one of our trips we visited eight countries. We had a bit of a plan about opening an import business again one day but we didn't know what we were going to import.

"So I took photos of hundreds of items. In the end we couldn't pinpoint just one thing so decided to go for an eclectic collection of items from different countries. There is no rhyme or reason to what I select. If it jumps out at me, I bought it."

Hari obviously has a good eye because her choices are amazing.

They opened the doors two weeks before the country went into lockdown.

"But we were okay. There were people a lot worse off than us. If we hadn't owned the building it would have been another ball game. But we did, so we coped."

She said her busiest day was the first day after lockdown that people didn't have to queue.

"I think people had an urge to spend. We also supported local suppliers to get the economy going again."

Popular items have been the one-off couches or chairs that Hari only ever buys two of, coffee tables and there are all sorts of objects in Uneek that you could use for a coffee table, bar stools, and Lazy Susans. Didn't think you could still get these but there they were.

Her goods come from India, a little island in Malaysia and she has just received a new shipment from Thailand and is hoping that in three months her shipment from Indonesia will arrive.

"It has been interesting purchasing goods because I am shopping from photographs taken over a a number of years. Pretty sure this is what I am meant to do. It's the reason I get up in the morning."

• Uneek Home Decor is at 201 Southland Rd, Hastings.
• Opening hours are 10am-4pm Tuesday to Friday, and Saturday 10am-2pm.