After 18 years of operation, Kings Plant Barn is closing its Takanini branch.
In an email to customers, Kings Plant Barn chief executive Micah Gamman said the company made the difficult decision to close due to changing customer shopping patterns and changes to lease arrangements.
Established in 2007, Kings Takanini was the seventh branch to be opened.
He thanked customers and staff for supporting the Takanini store over the past 18 years.
“Readers may recognise a familiar face in Heather Cochrane, who worked at our Takanini
branch for 17 years, she now leads our Botany branch, which is the next closest store to
Takanini,” Gamman told the Franklin Times.
Heather Cochrane has worked for Kings Plant Barn for 19 years, one year working in sourcing before spending 17 years at the Takanini branch, and now one year at Botany.
Cochrane said creating a petting animal enclosure along with having Billy the cockatoo and
friendly rabbits were highlights of her time at the Takanini store.
friendly rabbits were highlights of her time at the Takanini store.
“We got some kune kune pigs at one stage and oh my gosh, with us feeding them and the cafe feeding them, they ended up like rhinoceros. We had to retire/rehome them to a lovely farmer up north where they had the freedom and some much-needed exercise.”
She said they also had a fantastic tropics area at Takanini, one of her key passion projects at Botany is recreating this.
“I absolutely loved our customers, they were true gardeners as there were a lot of lifestyle
property owners in the area, we specialised mainly in big trees and shrubs which suited the
lifestyle nature of the area.
“Over time with the development of the area and Auckland in general I noticed the shift to
smaller housing blocks, smaller back yards and a change to different garden and plant
preferences.”
One of the disadvantages of the Takanini store’s location was its tendency to flood.
“The floods, after a few years the novelty wore off, pretty quickly. We had a little dinghy that we would sit in and paddle around when the nursery behind us flooded.”
The Takanini store will close its doors for the final time on March 16. The closest branch will then be Kings Plant Barn Botany at 280 Botany Road, Botany Downs, Auckland.
