| Welcome to the first ever edition of Hamptons Happenings. Here at Hamptons ITM we’ve spent the last few years with our heads-down and our butts up… trying our hardest not to let our very loyal tradies, joiners, builders, manufacturing sector firms and other customers down, while we’ve quietly got on with gradually putting our business back together again. The launch of “Hamptons Happenings” is a signal that it’s now time to dust ourselves off, and in terms of the Christchurch and Canterbury building supply scene, begin to shake things up, once again… |
| Like so many other Christchurch businesses, Hamptons’ premises were mortally wounded following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. We were faced with knee deep liquefaction, broken floor slabs, collapsed walls, shattered glass and thousands of dollars of ruined product. |
Having survived all this, we spent the next 5 years wrangling, wrestling and wading our way through bureaucracy and red tape until we eventually reached an agreement with our insurer in December 2016. This meant that in 2017 we were finally able to get underway with re-building Hamptons.
Now, in December 2018, we are at long last on the home straight and just adding the final finishing touches, including landscaping and signage etc.
As many who have visited us at Ferry Road will know, we have completed our rebuild in 4 separate stages over an 18-month period and the process was (quite literally) very similar to a game of musical chairs.
Much of Hamptons had to be re-located to temporary premises on Leeds street at different times, as the rebuilding of each separate area was completed.
In the words of the immortal Honey Badger; our poor yard, shop and warehouse staff “were kept busier than a one-armed brick layer in Baghdad…”! They not only had to get product out the door to our wonderful customers, they also had to constantly shift things around as we diligently progressed our way through each stage of the re-build.
Loyalty is something everyone says is important… but it is a wee bit like insurance in that you don’t know its true worth until the proverbial hits the jolly fan…
In Hamptons’ case, we are fortunate to have a very solid and loyal team. Many have been a part of Hamptons for decades and they know the building game better than most. When Hamptons fell down around our knees – these guys pulled together – we didn’t have to ask, they just turned up. We patched things up as best we could and then we quickly turned our attention to making sure our customers got the product they needed and then (as everyone did) we tried to help others out. Initially, we even gave away plywood and timber to others for emergency and security purposes.
When it comes to loyalty, we are also very thankful to both our suppliers and customers. Many have been doing business with Hamptons for over 40 years.
Fortunately, over the last 7 years, most of our customers have stuck by us… even after we had to ring and apologise that the SG8 timber they’d ordered wouldn’t get to them on time because it was stuck right behind the big stack of gib board and marine plywood which was due to be shifted tomorrow as part of our never-ending game of musical chairs. In some cases, our most loyal customers were good enough to give us 3 chances… and we are sincerely grateful. Thanks for sticking by us. Without your patience and loyalty, Hamptons quite simply wouldn’t be here today!
It takes a fair bit to get a bunch of building-mad gals and guys excited…
But, for longer than we care to remember we’ve felt like we’ve been treading water with one leg tied behind our back. We haven’t really wanted to take on too many new customers and push things too hard, because for the last few years we wouldn’t have been able to absolutely 100% back ourselves to get every single order out the door, in full and on time. We realise that if we stuff things up with a new customer, we’ll quickly get a new first name… “Bloody” Hamptons and it’ll be a long time between drinks before we get a second chance. Hamptons has built its reputation on “getting things right” and the last thing we wanted to do was stuff that up.
But, in 2019 we will have a brand new 375m² building supply shop, 3,290m² warehouse, 1,600m² dedicated drive-through and parking area, and a 380m² office, sales and distribution centre.
For many of us it has been 5 long years of foreplay and false starts, followed by an 18-month long pregnancy!
We’re excited! As you know, Hamptons ITM is the most centrally located building supply company to the Christchurch CBD. On top of this, we will have a brand-new, purpose-built site that we’ve designed ourselves (for maximum efficiency), backed up by great product and a solid team.
In many ways, 2019 will mark the rebirth of Hamptons ITM and together (with you…) we’re looking forward to doing some great things!
We’re really looking forward to seeing you at Hamptons ITM in the New Year.
Until then, we hope you enjoy a well deserved and safe holiday period with friends and family.
Merry Christmas.
Best wishes,
David & Wendy, Don, Carolyn and the rest of the team at Hamptons ITM
P.S. We close at 3pm on the 21st of December 2018 and we will be open again on the 3rd of January 2019.
