What It Really Means to Shop Local (When Local Is a Town of 600 People)
Marine MathieuShare
The longer I live in Akaroa, the more I genuinely dislike driving to Christchurch. It’s not the drive itself, exactly — though the hill road has tested my patience more than once. It’s that every time I go, I’m reminded of how little I actually need to. Because here, in this small town at the end of a long and winding road, we have almost everything. And I don’t think we say that loudly enough.
So this is a love letter to my town. But it’s also a small argument — about what “shopping local” actually means when local isn’t a marketing slogan, but the genuine fabric of where you live.
We could be cut off for weeks and barely notice
Here’s the thing that struck me not long ago: if Akaroa were somehow cut off from the rest of the world for a few weeks — the road closed, no trips to the city — most of us would be completely fine. We’d have bread, meat, cheese, vegetables, flowers, wine, clothing, art, and community. Everything you actually need to live well is already here.
That’s not true of most places anymore. So many towns have been hollowed out into commuter suburbs, dependent on a drive to a mall or a big-box store for anything beyond the basics. Akaroa held onto something most places lost — a real, working local economy made of actual people who know your name. And once you start shopping it properly, you realise how rare and precious that is. Let me introduce you to a few of them.
The people who make this town work
A la Baguette, our local bakery, is the kind of place that ruins supermarket bread for you forever. Once you’ve had a proper fresh baguette from people who actually know how to, there’s no going back. It’s a treat and a staple all at once.
For meat and deli goods, Ju and T at the Akaroa Butchery and Deli are simply some of the loveliest people you could hope to buy your dinner from. There’s something about a butcher who knows you, knows what you like, and genuinely wants you to eat well — it’s a completely different experience to grabbing shrink-wrapped trays under fluorescent lights.
And then there’s cheese. Emma at the Akaroa cheese shop showcases New Zealand cheese exclusively — no imports, just the best of what this country produces. In a world where so much gets flown in from everywhere, a shop that says “we’re going to celebrate what’s made here” is doing something quietly wonderful.
For flowers, Bonnie at Nuku Manaakitanga & Floral Design brings such beauty into the town. And what I love is that her flowers share the same values we hold dear at Nomad — foam-free, grown not flown, sustainable floristry made right here. As she puts it, mahi crafted from the whenua with the whenua in mind. A local flower shop is one of those things you don’t realise is a luxury until you’ve lived somewhere without one, and one that’s genuinely sustainable is rarer still — fresh, seasonal, arranged with care, grown not flown halfway around the world.
Where shopping local also gives back
Some of the best places in town do double duty — you shop, and the community benefits directly.
There’s the little store next to the butcher selling handmade knits, where the proceeds go directly to support Akaroa Health. You buy something beautiful and warm, and you’re literally funding healthcare for your own community. That’s about as direct as the loop gets.
The Postmaster’s Closet, our second-hand clothing store, is a treasure trove for finding quality pieces with a bit of history to them — and because it’s run by volunteers, the proceeds flow back into the community too. Sustainable, affordable, and good for the town all at once. It’s everything I love about how this place works.
And the team at Pohatu Penguins are doing genuinely special conservation work. If you’ve never done one of their educational tours, it’s worth it — and their booking office doubles as a little shop full of local treasures and beautiful art. Education, conservation, and local makers, all in one spot.
And we’ve got new energy arriving as well. Akaroa Cache 7520 is a new store showcasing exclusively New Zealand-made products. I love that even as established businesses anchor the town, new ones are arriving with the same values: celebrate what’s made here, support the people who make it.
Why this matters more in a small town
In a city, shopping local is a nice ethical choice among many options. In a town like ours, it’s something closer to a civic act. Every dollar spent at A la Baguette or the butchery or Nuku doesn’t disappear into a corporate account in another country — it stays here. It pays a local wage. It keeps a local family in business. It’s part of what makes it possible for Akaroa to be a place where you genuinely can get everything you need without leaving.
That’s the quiet magic of a thriving small town: it’s a web of people choosing to support each other, over and over, until the whole thing holds together strong enough to weather just about anything.
Nomad is proud to be one thread in that web. When you shop with us — for your pantry staples, your package-free basics, your bulk wholefoods — you’re doing the same thing you do when you buy a baguette down the road or a wheel of cheese from Emma. You’re keeping it here. You’re keeping it ours.
And honestly? I’ll take that over a trip to the city any day.