Daily Photo – The Corner for Value in Temuka
This was a fun image to create. I came across the building while wandering through the South Island town of Temuka. The faded words “The Corner for Value” are still clinging to the façade, like a shopkeeper who has decided retirement is somewhat overrated.
The name belonged to A. Gabites, a drapery business established by Arthur Gabites. Arthur died suddenly in 1898, aged just 55, leaving Margaret with twelve children, the youngest only ten months old. Somehow, the family kept the business going, eventually expanding into building this shop in 1905–06. By then, Arthur had been gone for several years, but his name remained above the door.
The family had already made their mark in Timaru, where their Stafford Street premises became known as Gabites Corner. So when this shop appeared in Temuka, locals suddenly found themselves with two Gabites Corners barely fifteen minutes apart.
A century later, only one thing seems to have changed. The customers have gone. The corner remains.
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