7 Sep 2021

Dancer opens her green grocery store on the first day of lockdown

From Afternoons, 1:50 pm on 7 September 2021
Tui Hofmann outside her shop The Nest

Tui Hofmann outside her shop The Nest Photo: http://thenest.co.nz/

Tui Hofmann's new grocery store The Nest had its very first day open on 17 August - the same day Auckland's current Level-4 lockdown was announced.

Tui, a former professional dancer, tells Jesse Mulligan she sat alone in the store - in the Auckland suburb of Kingsland - and watched the whole street empty.

"[There were] these massive queues outside supermarkets and me sitting on my empty stoop, kind of in a bit of a panic."

But Tui persisted and The Nest has remained open during Level 4, providing fresh produce and a sense of community to locked-down Kingslanders.

When the pandemic hit last year, Tui was living in London and working as a contemporary dancer. When performance work disappeared, she took over a French grocery store in the London suburb of Hackney and loved the experience.

Her current home of Kingsland has no shortage of places to eat and hang out, Tui says, but was missing a place you could walk to and buy fresh produce.

When a little shop on the main street became available, she decided to fill that gap and open The Nest, which sells fruit and vegetables - both organic and non-organic - fresh bread, cheeses and other deli supplies.

Food brings people together and a neighbourhood grocer helps to create a community spirit, Tui says.

"[Kingsland is] this sweet little neighbourhood where everyone could actually walk and get everything they need. I've covered the grocery, we need a nice cute book store, I reckon, next."