Seletti is the name of both the innovative new concept store on lower Shotover St and an Italian brand of some 2500 "objects with personality", outlet owner Anna Cooney, of Queenstown, said.
The store sells a selection of Seletti's range, plus Italian handmade bicycles from ABICI, jeans by Lil Luca and Cheap Monday, jewellery by Chelsea de Luca and Artikel, sunglasses by Ksubi, books by Phaidon, and furniture by Vitra, Republic, Marseille and Dulton.
It is an emporium of international postmodern objets d'art, clothes, furniture and jewellery, where retro blends clash with the present to create often surprising new forms.
Customers are stopped in their tracks by porcelain crockery modelled on disposable products, resin fruit bowls with a hand grenade in the bunch and classically ornate vases with fluorescent handles, one of the best sellers.
Prices start at $6 for "quirky products" and rise to $3200 for a Republic dining table.
Miss Cooney also offers a fashion and home design consultancy in which she visits residences and suggests product placements. Her entire wholesaling business had been brought from Christchurch to Queenstown.
"We've taken the brand and added other aspects to it in a retail situation to cater for all aspects of our target market," she said.
"Our market is somebody who likes something different, bold, and in the 25 to 35-year-old bracket.
"Most of these we distribute around New Zealand and create mini-concepts for each product.
"The idea is we'll present the brands so it shows the designer's vision.
"For example, an Art Deco inspired section of the shop with display cabinets and lights for Chelsea de Luca, a jewellery range with a 1920s Art Deco feel."
Miss Cooney worked in homeware and designer furniture retail for six years. She toured trade shows in Italy for four months in 2006 in search of unique and different products she could bring back to sell to Kiwi retailers.
"I stumbled across Seletti and asked them to be the New Zealand distributor for their brand, then I brought a container of their products back and approached businesses I thought would be appropriate. I was overwhelmed with the response I got and it's gone from there."
Originally from the Garden City and a former student at the University of Otago, Miss Cooney chose Queenstown to be the location of her own first dedicated concept store because she felt Wakatipu residents were like Italians - "out there, not conservative" - and there was nothing else quite like Seletti already available.
"I always loved Queenstown and the opportunity arose here. It works well for me as the majority of my wholesale is in the North Island, so it's best not to compete with them."
Miss Cooney continues to wholesale Seletti at trade shows and exhibitions in Sydney and Melbourne, and travels to Paris and Parma, the home of Seletti, to view and buy the new collections every September.
She is looking at options for larger premises in downtown Queenstown for relocation in the middle of the year. At least one full-time and one part-time staff member may be required.
The move was designed to capture more of the tourist market, a market she was "pleasantly surprised" to see respond to Seletti, as she originally thought the main demand would be local.
Miss Cooney said she hoped the Shotover St concept store was the first of many, with potential outlets in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.
"The most important thing for my business is to keep evolving and that's where Seletti is really strong. They are constantly ahead."
