They’ve been the face of fresh and specialty food in Queenstown for almost 30 years, but Nathan and Angela Imlach recently hung up their grocery aprons for a well-earned break. The Imlachs sold their long-standing Raeward Fresh Queenstown, originally Queenstown Wholesale Market, then Mediterranean Market, to Picton supermarket owners Jono and Jess Ettema.
Memories of childhood strawberry picking expeditions warm the heart for many - once a highly-sought after family day out, and strawberry picking with all its trimmings is back on the menu this summer.
Olivia Wensley is moving on from Startup Queenstown Lakes after a hard-fought but bruising mayoral campaign. Hers is one of a number of changes in key business support positions across the district. Jim Boult stepped down as mayor, Ruth Stokes is on her way out of Queenstown Chamber of Commerce, while Mat Woods has only been in charge of Destination Queenstown for five months.
Remarkables Park Ltd has lowered the height of its planned tech hub building, but the company’s plans for the area remain as lofty as ever. The $45 million Research & Innovation Queenstown facility, backed by a $22.5m Government loan, has been redesigned in the face of rising construction costs.
Nestled away in majestic Queensberry you’ll discover a wee haven – SuziQ’s Garden. Here you’ll find an abundance of specialised Christmas trees, stunning peonies, and locally-made lavender products. Suzette van den Boom is at the helm and has grown it into the beautiful garden servicing the local community that it is today.
After a successful year of events, the Women in Business Series morning tea will continue in 2023. The events are a partnership between Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce and Queenstown Airport, who wanted to support women in business, once a month. Each event has a female speaker who talks about their experience in business and the challenges they’ve overcome.
The produce the restaurant gardens grow virtually writes the menu on a daily basis for executive chef Chris Scott at Sherwood Hotel, where the planet comes first.
Memories of childhood strawberry picking expeditions warm the heart for many - once a highly-sought after family day out, and strawberry picking with all its trimmings is back on the menu this summer.
Regenerative practices have been applied since the inception of Queenstown Community Gardens 13 years ago, where demand has continued to increase for plots as produce prices soar.
The quest to farm regeneratively and produce food on scale has become a labour of love for New Zealand celebrity chef and TV presenter Nadia Lim and husband Carlos Bagrie, who hails from a generation of Wakatipu farmers, working their 460ha Royalburn Station on the Crown Terrace.
While the housing market is slowing due to inflation and interest rates, money continues to flow through Queenstown Lakes’ commercial and industrial property sector. And the annual 2022-23 Colliers Otago Market Review and Outlook shows it’s not just downtown that’s shaking off the pandemic blues.
Shane Manners Wood’s uniquely local lavender has enhanced everything from five-star restaurant brûlée to upmarket gin, while also soothing cuts, burns and stings, and calming the soul.
Goldfields Jewellers is something of an institution in Queenstown. It’s celebrating its 21st anniversary under the ownership of long-term locals Trond and Anna Johansson, the only Queenstown CBD retail store and onsite workshop with a working jeweller.
Despite closed borders the Queenstown Lakes film industry has still had a pretty strong year and there’s a positive vibe amid hopes of even better times to come.
Winter Pride director Marty King is always happy to pick up the phone and speak to a journalist. And his openness is paying dividends for what is the largest LGBTTQI+ festival in the Southern Hemisphere.
He’s believed to be Queenstown’s longest serving downtown restaurateur clocking up more than 30 years, and Graham McCarthy has certainly proved his Christchurch lawyer wrong.
Jennifer Belmont might just have the most rewarding job in Queenstown Lakes. As founding trustee and CEO of the Wakatipu Community Foundation, she’s at the centre of an organism that helps people help others, creating a snowball effect in New Zealand’s ski resort tourism capital.
It’s a crazy time to be alive. Paradigm-shifting, some might say. And so we gather, as a community, to navigate our way to a better future. The Wao Summit is a six day festival in the Southern Lakes dedicated to creating long term social and environmental change, and it’s back this October. Run by sustainability non-profit Wao Aotearoa, the summit is in its fifth year and gathering momentum.
Staffing remains the number one priority for Queenstown business with demand above pre-Covid levels. The latest JobFix data report shows there were 3,226 jobs advertised in the July-September quarter.
WHY ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS WITH US
The Lakes Weekly is part of Queenstown Media Group (QMG).
QMG is Queenstown’s leading locally owned and operated media company with print, online and social platforms that engage locals with what they care about — everything local!
The Lakes Weekly delivers stories and news that connects with local so they come away each week better connected to their community. Advertising sits within this curated content environment, and it’s a trusted relationship between readers and the Lakes Weekly. Advertisers benefit from the association with the LWB brand values.
The Lakes Weekly is hand delivered to every business in Queenstown, Arrowtown, Frankton, Five Mile Remarkables Park and Glenda Drive on Tuesday. Copies are available in service stations, libraries and drop boxes throughout the region and every supermarket throughout the Queenstown basin and Wanaka.
Online the issue is available Monday afternoon, on lwb.co.nz and the Qtn App.
3,500
Printed copies
each week
13,250
Estimated weekly
readership
Latest issue