Lewis and Glenys Della Bosca’s shop, Impressions, has moved three times in the past 40 years and morphed into a different business which has enabled them to be a “survivor”.
When they first opened the shop in the former Village Mall, it was a print and poster gallery and they ran a similar shop in Nelson for a while. Lewis remembers they were one of the opening tenants in the Village Mall.
They later moved the business to “a little yellow house” near the mall and became picture framers, before moving in 2001 to Sundial Square. As well as picture-framing, the business is now one of the few remaining independent fine-art suppliers in the country.
“It hasn’t been easy,” he confesses. “We’re a survivor and the reason there are so few of us around is because it isn’t easy. But we’ve stayed the distance.
“We’ve gone through tough times, various recessions, and survived by adapting to what the market has wanted and trying to continue to provide good customer service.”
He attributes a good part of their longevity in retail to knowledgeable staff, and two of the four part-timers have been with them for 20 years.
“We could have developed an online presence, but we’ve decided not to because we like to share our knowledge on a face-to-face basis.”
Glenys retired at the end of last year, and though Lewis admits retirement sometimes looks enticing, he has no plans at this stage to stop work.
“The most rewarding thing is dealing with customers who go away happy. When they go away happy, it makes you feel good, as though you’ve done something worthwhile.”
