New Zealand homewares and stationery supplier Best Abroad has launched in the Australian market, bringing a collection of design-led items to local retailers.
Best Abroad’s portfolio includes Japanese storage brand Yamazaki, greeting cards from French label Michoucas and in-house brands Father Rabbit Goods and Father Rabbit Stationery.
The business was started in 2014 by Nick Hutchinson and Claudia Zinzan, who also run the successful NZ retail chain Father Rabbit.
“It was really by accident, we had the opportunity to wholesale a brand we were already retailing and thought why not,” says Hutchinson. “We have now successfully added complementary brands to our gorgeous homewares selection.”
Running their own stores gives the pair insight into what their wholesale customers want and means they can test road test new brands. They focus on sourcing items that are timeless, useful and beautiful and do a lot of research online to scout new products.
“We sell things that we love and would want our own homes… It is very home/storage/utility focused as well as stationery brands,” says Hutchinson.
“We want to take the hard work out of sourcing and bring together successful brands that we know will work for our retailers. The brands we sell are generally timeless and not influenced by trends.”
Best Abroad launched at Life Instyle Sydney in February and Hutchinson says he saw differences between Australian and NZ buyers, but that the stores are similar.
“Australian and NZ buyers are completely different. There is a lot more choice for the Australian buyer,” he says. “[Best Abroad attracts] curated, considered stores with a focus on timelessness.”
Now they have expanded across the pond, Hutchinson says he is excited to share the Father Rabbit brands with more customers as well as add more travel products to the Best Abroad mix.
“We love seeing the success of our own brand Father Rabbit Goods and Stationery—designed by us…We are focused on organically growing and adding more products to our already successful line-up.”
By Ruth Cooper
