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The story ofPreviewhow a flairfor fashion grewGreg and Liz Hicks. Owners Preview ClothingWhen you first meet Greg and Liz Hicks of clothing storePreview, in Pukekohe, their charismatic personalities charm eventhe most fashion averse. Before you know it, you find yourselfwanting several gorgeous items from their designer selections.Yes, their clothes are luscious and addictive!Their flair for fashion had a somewhat humble start, beginningin Franklin with Greg born in Pukekohe and Liz growing up inTuakau and their first business, a retail clothing store in Pukekohe.Liz set aside a career in teaching to work part time in a wellknown store in Pukekohe called Lady Love Boutique. Greg:“One day, when Liz was working there, she heard someone comeand ask whether they (the owners) were interested in selling thebusiness. It surprised her to hear that the owner may consider it.We ended up buying it… that was our entry into the rag trade.”“Moving on from that, we took a much larger step into theindustry and bought a store in Manukau shopping centre,called Basille Boutique. A few years after that we rebranded thewomen’s stores into Preview. We grew to six shops in variouscentres then entered the jeans and streetwear end of business andchanged some to Blitz streetwear… we changed as the marketchanged. Womenswear was always the core of our business so laterwe pulled back and concentrated on this. We now have SylviaPark Preview, Pukekohe Preview and one in Royal Oak mall.”As for fashion in Pukekohe changing: “It has definitely evolvedlocally as Pukekohe itself has improved… now there is a greatselection of cafés, restaurants and bars to go out to after hours.Immediately, this has helped. Guys put a much nicer shirt onand make an extra effort in dressing up, though I still think theencouragement is coming from the girls to dress up a bit.”Not only has the attitude towards fashion in Pukekohe changed,so have the attitudes of outsiders towards the township. Gregremembers travelling to ‘town’ (Auckland) twenty years ago whenbuyers would ask him where he lived. Their reaction would be:“Pukekohe, do you live all the way out there?” Greg laughs: “Youdon’t hear that now.” Liz agrees that Pukekohe has lost its ‘smalltown’ mentality. “Pukekohe is lucky to have a good nucleus ofstores covering different ends of the market. You don’t need toshop out of it; you can get everything you want here now.” Outof the three shops they currently own Liz enjoys working inPukekohe the most. Why? “It’s because we have been here for aslong as we have and have such loyal customers.” She puts it downto the fact that they are lucky enough to have great staff and reallygood customer service.Of course, one can’t brush aside the fact that Liz has spent tenyears travelling, putting together ranges for a collective buyinggroup and studying fashion direction from major centres likeLondon and Los Angeles. Greg: “She comes back and knowswhat is happening overseas.” Although, trend spotting is notas easy as it sounds. Greg: “You can’t adapt everything fromoverseas… that’s the mastery of it, being able to adapt it (thetrend) to the New Zealand lifestyle.”Once trends are spotted, the store works hard to support NewZealand designers and suppliers. “We try and support ‘NewZealand made’, although it’s getting harder with a lot of biggercompanies going offshore. Items that are ‘New Zealand made’ arealways going to be more expensive. You are conscious of price, butalso want quality.”Greg and Liz like that by owning a shop such as Preview, theysupport design in the New Zealand economy. Essentially, byrunning a profitable, successful business with mass market appeal,Greg and Liz have been instrumental in supporting other fledglingbusinesses: “We take on new labels and give new designers anopportunity. Over the years, those labels have built into solidbrands.”Living locally and supporting many local sports clubs, schoolsand organisations has always been part of Greg and Liz’s businessfocus. “We enjoy doing our bit and putting something back in.”24Support your local business www.elocal.co.nz