Partner feature: Annie & Leo (Northlink, Christchurch)

Welcome to our new series about St. Pierre’s partners!
Today we’re heading to sunny Christchurch, to visit Annie and Leo. Their dual-format shop (including both sushi and Bento Bowl) is in Northlink, in the northern suburb of Papanui.

Annie and Leo are partners in life as well as in a St. Pierre’s store 😊 – they have two high-school age children, a boy and a girl. Their more recent partnership, in the Northlink store, began in July 2020. Last month marked their one-year anniversary in Christchurch – congratulations guys!

“Although I’m a new partner, I’ve been with St. Pierre’s for seven years. I began on the front line at Pakuranga, became assistant manager at Mount Wellington, and then manager at the old Newmarket, the old Ponsonby, and finally Customs Street shops. The customer bases and communities around Auckland were really diverse, which was great experience, but moving south with Leo was definitely a bigger challenge again!”

“We decided to take up the partnership opportunity as it was a great chance to earn more income. The increased income in return for taking on more responsibility is fair enough, and the partnership arrangement has met my expectations. Yes, it was a big jump for our family to move to a new city. But in terms of work, I found it was still the same St. Pierre’s way and team backing us, so it was not a total change of environment.”

After a period of adjustment her family has come to love Christchurch. They really enjoy the peaceful, easy-going atmosphere.

“There’s so much less traffic and transport stress than Auckland, and I’ve found people are much less tense here. Christchurch is a great city for cycling and in fact many of our staff bike to work. They always arrive energised and in a positive frame of mind.”

So, if you’re visiting the Garden City, or just passing through on your way to the ski fields or wineries, be sure to stop by and see Annie, Leo and the team. And here’s to great people taking on more challenges across the St. Pierre’s Group!