Outgoing Mitre 10 Stratford owners Nigel and Richard Masters with new owners Sarah and Hayden Gibson. Photo / Alyssa Smith
It’s the end of an era for Mitre 10 Stratford.
After 127 years the family-owned business has changed hands, with new owners Hayden and Sarah Gibson, from Whanganui, taking over on Tuesday, October 1.
Outgoing co-owner Richard Masters said the decision to sell was a tough but necessary one for him and his brother, and fellow co-owner, Nigel.
“We didn’t have any family that wanted to get involved so selling the business is what we had to do.”
The store began life as a general store started by Richard and Nigel’s great-grandfather Jonas in 1897. Richard said their granddad had moved to Stratford from the West Coast for a job change.
“He was a coal miner and thought he’d come to Stratford, working as a dairy farmer. He decided dairy farming wasn’t quite suited to him so he became a store manager in the early 1890s. By 1897 he had started up his shop.”
He said in the early days the business sold various items, from gelignite to gardening ware and even some bread.
“It was like a department store in that kind of way. The orders used to be delivered by horse and cart before cars were invented.”
Jonas didn’t just sell the items, he tested them out too, said Nigel.
“He would show farmers how to remove stumps using sticks of gelignite. There was once where apparently someone had put too many sticks in and blew the stump so high up it landed on their house.”
When Jonas wasn’t running the store, he was running the town, said Richard.
“From 1910 until 1912 he was the town mayor.”
During World War I and World War II Jonas’ son, Richard, took over the business. After World War II, Richard and Nigel’s father, Arthur, stepped up to own the store.
During this time the store changed location two times, starting on Regan St and then moving to where SMS Engineering now sits on Broadway. From there it moved up the road to where Best 4 Less currently is.
The Masters-owned store became part of the Mitre 10 chain in 1985, the best decision the family could have made, said Nigel.
“I think that has to be one of the biggest changes we’ve seen. ”
Nigel said many things have changed since he took over the store in 1973.
“We used to write out every transaction, we had boxes of them. Technology has been a big part of the changes.”
Richard said he came on board in the early 80s. In 2008 the store moved its final location on Fenton St.
Richard said the store is now in Hayden and Sarah’s capable hands.
“It feels like a good fit and I’m interested to see what they will do.”
Sarah, who co-owns Mitre 10 Mega in Whanganui with Hayden, said while the outside look of the store won’t change, people can expect to see some new products on the shelves.
“Being part of the Mitre 10 Mega chain means we have opportunities to access more range and we look forward to sharing that with our Stratford customers.”
She said the opportunity to buy the business “came up at the right time”.
“It all happened by chance really but it’s a good fit. We were already providing a service for lots of South Tarankai people so it’s just bridging that gap.”
They’ll have plenty of local knowledge, she said, with all of the staff staying on.
“I think that’s really cool. The manager, Joyce Clifton, has been great at helping us along so we know we’re going to have plenty of support.”
Hayden said he looks forward to carrying on the business’ legacy while introducing new ideas.
“It’ll be great to have the opportunity to bring the big box range to this Stratford store. We’re excited to build on 127 years of great work the Masters family has done in Central Taranaki.
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