Wellington fruit shop to close the doors after 65 years

A fruit shop that has stood the test of time - spanning decades and generations in a coastal Wellington community - is finally closing its doors.

Run by the Lai family since the 1960s, residents say the Eastbourne Fruit Supply is a cornerstone of the community - a place where local teenagers "cut their teeth" in part-time jobs, and customers are greeted by name.

But after 65 years, its second-generation owners - siblings Tom, Richard and Sandra Lai - say the time has come to say goodbye.

A local developer is expected to take over the site when the Lais depart next June.

In search of a better life

The long-standing business was a dream that began half a world away and a generation ago when Jack Lai, a teenager from China, arrived in New Zealand in the 1950s.

"He came over to seek a better life," his son Richard Lai told RNZ.

"He had a job out in Seaview and he came out here as a boy, looked at Eastbourne and thought, 'This is quite a nice little area ... I might try and start a business out here.' And he did."

By 1964, Jack Lai had constructed the building that not only housed the fruit shop and two other businesses - a milk bar and fish and chip shop run by his wife Jenny - but his family in the second-floor apartment above.

Richard said with three businesses on the go, the six Lai kids had no choice but to muck in.

"We used to work a couple of hours after school. Help out bagging potatoes - bagging something - cleaning something, unloading the truck.

"We unloaded the truck a lot."

While the other businesses were let go over the years and the spaces rented out, the fruit shop always remained.

Richard said Jack and Jenny's hard graft paid off in the form of a "pretty early" retirement - with each stepping down from the business as he and his brother Tom stepped up.

But after several more decades, he said the siblings were once again due to follow in their parents' footsteps.

"I've been here about 40 years, Tom's been here about 44 or so, and Sandra's been here nearly 30.

"A lot of other shops we've seen come and go over the years, cafes and restaurants, and pharmacies moving ... and bookshops opening and closing.

"It's just time to go, time to move on and do other things before we get too old."

While the shop itself had not changed much over the years, Tom said the increasing supermarket presence had seen the business undergo a significant upheaval.

Gone were the days of market garden auctions, but not his cachet with the growers.

"[The supermarkets] are getting a lot of stuff and they get a lot of good deals, and we get what's left.

"[But] I know the guys [growers], so they always looks after me."

Although sad to see the fruit shop close, he said after decades of buying produce at the crack of dawn, he was ready to say goodbye - however, not to be unemployed.

"I'll have to find another job. Cutting down from 70 hours to zero is going to be hard."

His sister Sandra - also adamant she wouldn't be sitting idle - said it was the people in the community she'd miss the most.

"Definitely the customers. We've seen them grown up. The students that used to work here, now they've got their own families."

End of an era bittersweet

Eastbourne Fruit Supply's impending closure hit hard for many customers who spoke to RNZ, with local historian Ali Carew predicting "many tears and lots of hugs" come June 2026.

"These people are part of the community and I just can't bear to think of what it's going to be like without them."

She said the Lai's personal touch - delivering groceries during pandemic lockdowns and being greeted by name - was impossible to replicate in a supermarket.

"I do a lot of preserving and Tom or Sandra will ask, 'Do you need some tomatoes for making sauce, or plums to make chutney?'

"It's always beautiful quality and Tom will go to the market and get what I want."

Shoppers from Wellington and the Hutt said it was the freshness of the produce that drew them to Eastbourne - a quality local Patsy Jorgensen said was almost supernatural.

"I usually pop in once, sometimes twice a week.

"I don't know how they keep their fruit and vegetables fresh for so long ... it's really great! Even when I pick it from my garden it doesn't last as long. It's magic."

Another Eastbourne resident Jill, said the fruit shop was the place where many teenagers, including her own, had "cut their teeth" in the job market.

She said it was sad to see it go, but acknowledged the community was lucky to have had it for so long.

Richard said the unique suburb and loyal support had kept them going at a time when hundreds of fruit shops were closing - and although the end of an era was sad, many customers were "really happy for us too".

"You know we've been here for over 40-odd years. It's time to move on and have a look at the country, and the world, and get out and about and maybe do something else."

He said the developer who had bought the site planned to build apartments, and was keen to get in a new grocer on the bottom floor.

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