Its clients have included the government, Air New Zealand and the All Blacks, while Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson and Tāme Iti are among its high-profile fans.
But one of New Zealand’s oldest manufacturing companies is “doing it so tough” that the chief executive had a stroke and now the family business is asking fellow Kiwis for help to stay afloat.
Hills Hats, an internationally renowned milliner since 1875, should be planning a big party for its 150th anniversary this year, but instead, the family business has launched a Pledge Me campaign in a desperate attempt they’re calling “the last roll of the dice”.
The fundraiser is also to raise awareness of the severe challenges facing Kiwi businesses, particularly in the capital.
The company is “clinging on when it seems like Wellington is in freefall”, chief executive Simon Smuts-Kennedy told Stuff.
Stuff
Faces of the Day
The company is “clinging on when it seems like Wellington is in freefall”, chief executive Simon Smuts-Kennedy told Stuff.
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This year, the winning entry came from Sritam Kumar Sethy, a student at Berhampur University in India, while Australian researchers and wildlife snagged awards in several categories.
Face of the Day
Beard was in hospice care when he died at his ranch in Richmond, Texas, with family members at his side, band representative Bob Merlis said.
Faces of the Day
The group are mostly elderly and retired and gather at an old sports building in Hastings to make coffins. “We are at a point where we don’t have the room to make any more,” Treasurer Cherie Hames says. “We are basically at capacity of what we can make on the premises. We have to find new premises.”
Faces of the Day
Peters, who is also the minister for rail, said he pitched an alternative plan, to immediately put the harbour crossing to tender, but was outvoted in cabinet. His comments seemed to surprise both Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
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The Good Oil Word of the Day
The word for today is… raffish (adjective) - 1: marked by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity or crudeness 2: marked by a careless unconventionality : rakish Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Raffish sounds like it should mean "resembling raff." But what is raff? Originally, "raff" was a word meaning