Where did indieProper begin, and how do you both feel like a movement of this nature is the antidote to the madness of November retail?

Nat: indieProper has developed somewhat organically, maybe with the helping hand of a regular bottle of wine to get the ideas growing.  For us, it rides the post-Welly On A Plate/WOW wave, but catches people right before the Christmas chaos.  We also wanted something to bring the independent community together.  Being independent often means you are wearing so many hats you don’t get to connect all that often, and so it is nice to take advantage of many voices sharing the love and spreading the word about all these amazing stores around the city. 

Hannah: After meeting at a WellingtonNZ workshop in 2024(?), Nat, Tom and I have caught up for a monthly wine (“retail therapy”), where we chat about retail life, tech stacks - we both have product and service offerings in our stores which complicates the usual Shopify store set up, and debrief on the goings on in Wellington. At the end of 2025, Nat and I were feeling like we were always on the back foot, chasing our tails and being reactive so decided to have a planning day. We holed up in a room together with coffee and snacks and planned out our 2026, looking at where we had consistent quieter times and trying to plan what we could do to make them not so quiet. November was a consistent quiet month for us both - where it’s hard to be heard above the noise of big box retailers - so we thought we could band together and make a racket about the brilliance of Wellington’s independent retail scene. Holding indieProper in November gives independent retail a voice in the lead up to Christmas, a reminder to Wellingtonians that we’re here, we’re passionate about what we do, we make the city a brighter place to live, and that supporting local will keep us around.

What's the state of play for independent retail in Wellington right now?

Nat:  I mean, it’s certainly not an easy gig, but that’s not really why we get into right? (and if you do, you’re in for a pretty big shock). But we are super lucky that we have an amazing collection of really loyal customers, who love what we do, and come back again and again to show their support of the store. I do think though, that people who discover us, really appreciate the story behind what we do, our passion for the products we source and who love to be part of our wider community.

Hannah: I can really only speak for my store, Iris Store + Studio, which has had a growth spurt this year. With Te Matapihi reopening in March, there has been a big increase in people discovering us and adding to our ever growing pool of loyal advocates. We’ve brought on two new team members in the past two months which makes us a team of six now. Kind of mind blowing for someone who doesn’t really want to be a boss. I don’t think the need to keep pushing the business will ever end, and I’m constantly reviewing our product ranging and looking for brands which will delight our customers and fill gaps in our offering. It would be great to see more newcomers entering the Wellington independent retail scene, my inbox is open if anyone wants to have a chat before they dive in!