ITM doesn’t let Covid-19 slow it down

Published date10 March 2021
Date10 March 2021
Mike Henry, who with his wife Kym owns the Stratford based store, says the business has weathered many storms over the years in its 88 years of trading, including World War II as well as the Korean and Vietnam wars, the introduction of GST, the change to decimal currency, recessions and more.

Kym says she thinks Mike’s grandfather Victor Henry, who founded the business then known as Standard Timber in 1933, would be proud of the way the team navigated the business through the pandemic last year.

“The business has always been family, community and service focused. We have always put our staff first and made sure we do the best for our community, customers and staff. This didn’t change during the lockdown and level 3 last year.”

Despite only having the three days to prepare before the country went into lockdown last year, Kym says the team never missed a beat as they rushed to fill orders and ensure customers had all they needed to keep busy during lockdown.

“I have always said Kiwis are great at DIY and doing things and I am actually quite proud of our customers, and NZers as a whole, that people didn’t just plan to sit on the couch during lockdown, but came up with projects they could do while they couldn’t go to work.”

Over the three days before lockdown hit, Kym and Mike even had family members come into the store to help, as the customers flooded in to buy a wide range of items.

“We sold out of paint, plywood and GIB [plasterboard] and were busy for the whole three days filling orders.”

Once lockdown started, Kym and Mike were kept busy answering calls, as the business phones were set to go through to Mike’s mobile. Having won multiple awards over the years for their excellent customer service, not being able to help some of those callers was frustrating, says Kym.

“That was actually maybe the most stressful part of lockdown, when our customers were calling asking if we were open and could supply them with things they needed. Having to say no, when we are so focused on excellent customer service and being helpful, was really hard.”

Kym says she and Mike stayed focused on the importance of keeping everyone safe however.

“We are, and always have been, a family business. Our staff are treated like family, and closing our doors was the right thing to do as the country tried to stop Covid-19 spreading. We didn’t look for loopholes or apply for exemptions because we felt the most important thing was keeping people safe.”.

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