Where it all started

It was by accident that Mr. Chhibabhai Pancha Patel first arrived in Dannevirke around 1922. He had left India, bound for Fiji in 1917 and somehow ended up in New Zealand. His journey of chance continued, travelling to Wairoa to look at business prospects when he happened to get off the train at Dannevirke. There he spotted a bookshop that was soon to become vacant, contacted the Wellington owner and within a short time, started what is now one of Dannevirke's longest established businesses.

Shires was the first specialist fruit and vegetable shop in the Southern Hawkes Bay region. Chhibabhai took up the name Bill Shire when he arrived in New Zealand and subsequently named his business W. Shire & Co., the word "shire" meaning county. It was at this time there was considerable anti-Asian feeling rife in New Zealand and it was advantageous to trade under a European name. Over the years the name changed to W. Shire & Son, and since 1990 has traded as Shires Fruit and Vege Market.

Hard Work

There were no provincial markets in the early days and with Chhibabhai now having three men working for him, he concentrated on the essential task of buying fruit and vegetables for his store. This meant a Sunday-night train journey to Wellington to buy at the Monday market; then catching the overnight train to Auckland to buy fruit such as bananas and oranges. Then back to Wellington for the Thursday market and finally, late on Friday, back home to Dannevirke, all while making arrangements for all his purchases to be freighted back to Dannevirke by rail. Then, it was Monday again and the routine continued. Chhibabhai also bought stock for his four shops on these trips which were located in Wairoa, Levin, Waipukurau and Taihape, which also traded under the name W. Shire and Company.

The Next Generations

Before coming to New Zealand, Chhibabhai had been a school teacher in India where he left behind his wife, Hansiben, when he departed to New Zealand. It wasn’t until 1927 that the first of his four children, Chunilal, joined him. Chunilal joined his father in the business in 1944 and by the time of Chhibabhai’s death in 1977, Chunilal well and truly had taken over the operation of the shop.

Chunilal was a very popular Dannevirke identity, well known for his cheerful sense of humour. A true gentleman, it would take up to 10 years for Chunilal to use his customers’ first names, while women always remained “Mrs.” or “Miss”. He worked extremely hard and long hours in the business and did all the shop deliveries around town on the shop bike, which was equipped with a large carrier on the front. This was in addition to his buying trips which meant two or three days travel. While running the business, Chunilal and his wife, Shantiben, raised a family of 6 boys and 3 girls.

As the years went on, Chunilal’s two sons, Peter and Suresh, took on the running of the business and are today proud owners and operators carrying on the family trade. Shires and other family members often help out as you’d expect in what is definitely known as a ‘family business’ with Suresh’ wife Nayna at the store, brother Mahesh being involved in previous years and younger brother Arvind who still helps out today.

Shop after Shop

Shires has had its share of unfortunate events take over their store. In the earlier days, the shop sustained two fires and in the 1990 Mothers Day earthquake, Shires’ main retail building (on the present site) sustained so much damage that it had to be demolished. While the earthquake caused the greatest disruption to the business, it gave the opportunity for Shires to double the size of their premises. Rebuilt on the same site, the new shops larger retail area enabled better display and greater variety of items. 2011 saw Shires undergo a further extension and interior upgrade, along with an exterior repaint and new signage installed which not only updated the store, but helped with the Dannevirke Chamber of Commerce’s’ makeover of High Street.

98 Years and Still Going

Shires Fruit & Vege Market is one of the longest-established ongoing retail fruit and vegetable businesses in New Zealand, which is a great achievement. Over recent years, the business has been highly placed in the annual ‘Dannevirke Business of the Year Award’. 1994 saw Shires take out the prestigious award and has seen them placed in the top three on many occasions.

Shires are still very committed to its business and to the Dannevirke district. For many years their sponsored floats have been a feature in the annual Dannevirke Christmas Parade in which they have won the best Christmas float on many occasions. Shires also support many other sporting and cultural activities in the Dannevirke region.