Museum shop full of 'quirky things'

MAKEOVER: Leigh Hay, Trustee of Cobblestones Museum, left, and Siearn Hohipuha, receptionist and front of house, in the gift shop. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

The Cobblestones Museum gift shop has been given a makeover and it will now sell vintage articles, educational toys and crafts and tools made by members of the Wairarapa community.

A new entrance and exhibition building was added in November last year to the Greytown museum in which a temporary gift store was set up.

Museum trustee Leigh Hay said the new fit-out included "quirky things" and items from the museum's collection, which had been used as props or to display items.

"Our plan long term was for the retail and entrance area to have a linking feeling between the exhibition area and the museum."

Mrs Hay said the shop was full of unique and interesting items and people who were not keen to buy would still enjoy looking around the shop.

"We needed to cater to our visitors from the Wellington region, overseas visitors - which account for 20 per cent of all visitors - and of course locals."

Mrs Hay said with no dedicated children's shop in Greytown she had seen an opportunity to bring a range of educational children's toys and games, and also cater for children's party gifts. Explode your own volcano, excavate your own T-rex and mad scientist experiment kits were some of the science toys on offer.

There would also be an extensive range of local books dedicated to Wairarapa history and stories.

There had been other members of the community who had volunteered their skills and time making things for the museum to sell, Mrs Hay said.

"I'm working with people who can make products that are unique to Cobblestones and reflect the heritage," she said.

The Greytown Menz Shed had made a number of items to sell.

These include garden dibbles - a wooden tool specialised for planting seeds - and little replicas of Renaissance-style cottages made of wood.

"Because we [Cobblestones] are a charity and it's a big community facility and important to Greytown they [Menz Shed] said they'd make some things for us for free to sell."

The bulk of the store's items would be priced between $10-$25 and all shop profits would be put towards the upkeep and restoration of the museum.

Vintage wooden clothes pegs, old fashioned games, such as table tennis sets, skipping ropes, marbles and spinning tops, and a few items from the museum collection including milk bottles from the 1960s would be sold in the shop.

"We wanted to offer visitors to Cobblestones a different experience and products that were not readily available in Greytown."

A 1950s pink washing machine along with old copper and wooden plungers - used for beating washing - and a 1940s mannequin dressed in Victorian attire fill the shop's window display.

A Christmas event will be held in-store next Thursday from 5pm to 8pm.

The evening features specials, a free tote bag when you spend $50 or more and circulating Christmas mince pies for guests.

Since the museum of Wairarapa's early settlers donned its new look in 2014 it has seen a 50 per cent rise in visitors.

Cobblestones Museum and gift shop are open everyday from 10am to 4pm.