Bold new look for arcade

Press, 21 October 1983, Page 11

Bold new look for arcade

The recently-completed Chancery Lane re-develop-ment has injected new life into the central-city area.

There is a wide variation in the nature of the businesses incorporated in the new arcade.

The Holy Cross Chapel, a Catholic sanctuary in the midst of the city bustle, takes up a welcoming position near the entrance from the Square. With its associated shop selling religious pictures, cards, books and medallions, the chapel was an integral part of the

previous Chancery Lane landscape. There are eight retail shops in the new complex, including a branch of the Canterbury Savings Bank. A jewellery boutique, Carina, adjoins the chapel and sells an interesting range of fashion jewellery. A wool shop supplies the need of hand-knitters and, next door, Laras fashion boutique has an excellent selection of the latest designs from some of New Zealand’s top fashion labels. The biggest shop in the

complex is the new Ashby Bergh’s, a specialist hi-fi, video and television shop with an impressive array of electronic equipment on display. The new arcade is a haven for boutique shoppers: the city’s only specialist brass shop also has its premises there, selling everything from door handles to ornaments; and Avanti, next door, is an exciting collection of highfashion leather and suede clothing. On the corner of Chancery Lane and Gloucester

Street, opposite the Public Library, Bagatelle offers the new season’s accessories, with a colourful range of handbags, scarves and purses. Above street-level, the Chancery Tavern takes up the entire first floor of the new building, angled round an elegant marble-paved courtyard. On the opposite side of the lane the Chancery Lane Gallery is always worth a visit Original paintings, prints and posters are on display in the shop and a framing service is also available.