The Garden Party’s Values

We've been in business for over 25 years and the way we do business has been consistent throughout.  It's been common sense to us but we were asked the other day what our approach to business was and what our values are.

We'd never thought to express them aloud and put them on paper but it was interesting to do so.  We are proud of the way we work and who we work with & we will try to continue to support our community throughout this difficult Covid 19 time.

 

The Garden Party Culture and Values

We at the Garden Party are a small team of enthusiastic, hard working and honest women that are proud to sell beautiful, practical and fun products that are (more often than not) made and/or designed in New Zealand.

We are big proponents of Made and Designed in New Zealand.  We whole heartedly believe that Kiwis have a huge and disproportionate amount of talent.  We believe that this country produces truly amazing craft and art.
We love telling people about it – the stories, the inventions, the designs and the meanings.

We stock items that we have in our homes, or that we give to our friends and family.  We are proud to have such incredible stock made by talented and kind people that love what they do.

We strive to have integrity in all our dealings – with customers, suppliers, our staff, our accountant & landlord and couriers.  We treat all with respect and gratitude as they all help us in our business.

We are honest and ethical in our approach.  We try to support and stock things made in New Zealand as we believe not only do we have wonderful designers and crafters but we also believe that buying local is better for the planet.  Less shipping and waste.  Where we cannot have NZ made, we try to stock ethically made products. 
We try to be socially and environmentally responsible.
We strive to minimize our negative impact on the environment
We believe the world is a special place filled with wonderful people and we try hard to keep it like that – in our own small ways

We love the idea of supporting small communities, our own and round the world.  We support local schools, kindergartens and playcentres with fundraising initiatives.  It isn’t hard.  We have a genuine love of people.
We welcome everyone into the shop and try to speak to all with respect and curiosity.
We believe that everyone has a story to tell, when they want to.

We think that we can run a small but successful business without doing evil.
We believe in doing the right thing.
We enjoy our work, mostly have fun doing it and love being part of our community.

We try to be adventurous, supportive, creative and kind.
And to remember to turn off the stereo at the end of the day!

The photo above is of our lovely Rosie who came and helped us for three Christmases.  She wrapped lots of gifts that we donated to the Auckland City Mission.