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Lovers of distinctive gifts and quality homewares should head to Silverdale Village, where Hibiscus Gifts, a spacious new store has recently opened in Agency Lane.
The shop is owned by Jing Wang, who moved to Red Beach with her family from west Auckland last year. Having run an importing company with her husband for more than 10 years, Jing was keen to use her knowledge of overseas markets to open a shop with items that can’t be found anywhere else.
“We want to sell different things that are unique to us,” she says. “Most of our products are one of a kind. If you buy something here, you will be the only one to have that item. People don’t want the same things as everyone else.”
The shop includes a wide range of wooden furniture from France and Italy, gift items from Australia and Asian cashmere scarves. There is also women’s clothing, linen, china mugs, greetings cards, jewellery, beach towels and robes, vases, hats, prints, mirrors, artificial plants and flowers, and a selection of lamps, including several with Tiffany-style stained glass shades.
Jing says she chose the original heart of Silverdale for Hibiscus Gifts because people come to look around and browse through what’s on offer, as well as for the Saturday market, which brings in extra weekend foot traffic. And although the global pandemic has presented problems in getting some stock shipped and in-store from overseas, she is positive about the future.
“It was not the perfect time to start our business, but homeware makes people feel good and warm, so I think it’s better to open a good shop,” she says. “Silverdale Village is really nice, it’s not the same as the modern part. People here are very kind and generous. We’re new here, so we need time for people to get to know us, and come in and have a chat.”
