If you've wandered down George St recently you may have noticed an exciting development in the central shopping precinct - design store mac & wallace has relocated from Roslyn to the city, opening a brand new store which is brimming with stylish objects for the home.
The store's owner Kim MacKenzie (nee Turfus) was born and raised in Dunedin and has enjoyed a long career in the hairdressing industry over the past 18 years, including opening two suburban salons, tutoring and managing Servilles Hairdressing Academy in Auckland.
However after returning to Dunedin with her husband and son three years ago, she decided to focus her career on her passion for design, opening mac & wallace in 2015. The move home, allowed Kim to spend time with her father, who she says she shared many interests with, including collecting vintage items.
``Dad and I would go on these wonderful road trips together down South and over the years we accumulated a lot of vintage items, which were mainly kept in storage. We were christening dad's new deck one day over a glass of wine when he suggested opening a shop to sell our vintage finds.``
The pair decided to start with a pop-up shop, which they opened in February 2015 in the old honey shop in Allanton. The name mac & wallace is an amalgamation of the `Mac' in Mackenzie and her father's middle name `Wallace'.
Three months after opening Kim tragically lost her father, however despite suffering immensely she continued with the store, up-holding her and her father's shared dream and legacy.
In October that same year a space became available in Roslyn, so Kim decided to lease it and sell a mix of new and vintage homewares, while retaining the Allanton store, which focussed exclusively on vintage.
Eventually Kim closed the Allanton store to focus solely on Roslyn, which proved successful, as two years on she found the suburban premises too small for her steadily developing business, at which time she decided to relocate to George St.
Now situated in the old Annah Stretton Store (opposite Good Oil cafe) Kim has ample space to showcase her gorgeous homewares, saying the move has taken the mac & wallace brand ``to a whole new level``.
The light, bright gallery-style store is regularly updated with a variety of vintage and new items and brands, with many being exclusive to mac & wallace including giftware, jewellery, candles, art, furniture, ceramics, body products, giftcards, scarves, curios, picture frames, lighting storage baskets and more.
There's also a dedicated children's section, filled with adorable treasures little ones will love.
Kim and mac & wallace's manager Jay are both qualified interior stylists and are available to assist in your interior redecorating.
Check them out on Facebook and keep an eye out for their online store which is coming soon.
mac & wallace is located at 317 George St, phone (03) 470-1004 and open Monday to Friday 10.00am to 5.30pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm.
