Tracey and Scott Bowman in their pharmacy/hobby shop in Paraparaumu Beach. Photo / David Haxton
About two decades ago, Tracey and Scott Bowman toured the North Island as part of a Lord of the Rings-themed tiki tour.
Soon after the movie trilogy was released, they decided they wanted to get out of their home in England and visit Middle-earth.
Once they were here, the pair fell in love with New Zealand and decided they wanted to make the country their home.
So in 2005, that’s what they did.
“It was like a home away from home,” Scott recalled.
They moved from their home in Washington, northeast England, to Whakatāne, with their 18-month-old son Christopher.
Both Scott and Tracey are trained pharmacists, so they contacted a recruitment agency and managed to land jobs at a local pharmacy.
But at the time, Whakatāne was pretty small and remote, which Tracey didn’t like, so after a year they moved to Kāpiti to be closer to a big city.
“We wanted to be near a city but not on top of it,” Scott said.
The couple rented a home in Paraparaumu Beach for a while but ended up building a home in Nikau Valley in 2010.
Once they were in Kāpiti, they got jobs in different places – Scott worked in an Ōtaki-based pharmacy for nine years, and Tracey worked in the Life Pharmacy in Coastlands.
Scott had plans to buy the Ōtaki pharmacy when his boss retired, but at the last minute there was an offer that couldn’t be refused, and Scott missed out.
We’re probably one of the best-stocked stores in the lower North Island.
Coincidentally, though, the Paraparaumu Beach Pharmacy in Seaview Rd came up for sale around the same time, and Scott and Tracey quickly bought it.
That was seven years ago, and for a while it was just a pharmacy - but Scott, who is a keen hobbyist, was struggling to buy hobby-related items locally, so in May of 2016, Tracey suggested getting a small display for the shop.
“There was a little store at the mall called Toyworld, and they had this stuff [hobby-related items] on a small scale, but they closed down.
“There was also another little hobby store that was across the railway track, and they closed down within a year of each other, so there was nothing in the town that was doing hobbies.
“I was kind of frustrated at not being able to go somewhere to pick up a paintbrush or paint if I needed it, so Tracey said, ‘Why don’t you get some in?’”
That small hobby display grew quickly, and it now takes up half the store. Scott’s office was even converted into a hobby room, and they named the hobby part of the store Kāpiti Hobbies.
Now they stock lots of different things, including roleplaying games, miniature war games, figurines, model train set supplies, 3D printing materials and more.
“We’re probably one of the best-stocked stores in the lower North Island.
“We have an online store and we ship all around the country, and abroad sometimes.”
Scott said they also sponsor a lot of tournaments, especially for war games, by giving contestants discounts for their website.
“We also have a loyalty scheme, and the nice thing about it is that once someone comes in and spends $75, they get a $5 voucher back, so they come back.
“We constantly have a growing customer base.”
Scott’s love for hobbies started when he was young.
He recalled his father, who was in the fire brigade, going on strike and spending a lot of time at home.
His father built him a model train set, and although the trains didn’t really spark Scott’s interest, he enjoyed displaying his toy soldiers on it.
From there, his passion just grew.
He was introduced to roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons by a close friend of his when he was in university.
When he got married and had his children, he said he didn’t have the time or money to continue with his hobbies, but when he got older and had more disposable income, he got back into it.
The store really is the best of both worlds, and Scott said the pharmacy and hobby sectors really support each other.
“I always like it when someone comes in with a prescription and does a double take, and then you’ve got a prescription sale, a medicine sale and a hobby sale.
“I’m doing what I enjoy doing and getting the war games community out there, and [providing] somewhere to come locally to get [hobby items].”
He said during the week, the hobby section “ticks along quite happily” and the pharmacy is always busy, but during the four hours they open on a Saturday, they do a day’s worth of trading - and it’s 90 per cent hobby sales.
“They do support each other quite well.”
This story appears in the latest spring/summer edition of the Celebrating Kāpiti magazine.
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