"Waimate Knitwear are happy to say their 2 shops are staying open,
under new ownership by The Merino Story.
Both shops now stock a range of possum/merino knitwear by other NZ manufacturers
and a wide range of NZ made merino layering pieces from The Merino Story."
(Any Waimate stock remaining is at the original factory shop. Ph: 03 689 7973)
The Waimate Knitwear Story
Waimate Knitwear is a small, family-owned and operated knitwear manufacturing company. We use yarns spun from New Zealand fibres at the historic Douglas Spinning Mill at Milton, Otago. The garments are all knitted, individually hand-cut, and sewn, at the factory in Waimate, South Canterbury.
Being both a manufacturer and retailer of knitwear has given us a unique opportunity to develop styles and test them on our factory shop customers to see whether they fit well and people like them. If something works we add it to our range.
Our knitwear is designed for comfort and style and it will reliably keep you warm and looking stylish for years, with no special care.
We don't automatically change our styles and colours each season or even each year –if something is popular we keep making it. When you have worn-out your favourite Waimate Knitwear garment, there is a good chance that we will be able to send you an exact replacement.
The first Waimate Knitwear factory shop opened in 1998. Set on the factory property, with a large parking area in front, the factory shop has plenty of space for motor-caravans and even buses. The factory is situated 500m away from the main street, so we place footpath signs around town to help people find us.
The shop is visited by thousands of local and international travelers, year-round. It has become known as the place to buy possum/merino knitwear at exceptionally good prices.
In December 2012, we opened a second Waimate Knitwear factory shop on the main street of Milton -just around the corner from the spinning mill which produces the yarn we use. Milton is located on SH 1 and the new shop is attracting lots of interest from locals and visitors to the Otago region.
Unfortunately, the unpredictable supply of possum/merino yarn hampered the production of our knitwear at crucial times.
This led to a loss of sales and subsequently decreased cash-flow which restricted the amount of yarn we could purchase to make more garments.
That's a vicious circle and it has finally led to the closure of the Waimate Knitwear factory.
We would like to thank all of our loyal customers.
During the 15 years that our factory shop has been open, we have met some of you many times.
It has been a pleasure meeting and serving you.