LEADING BUSINESS MEN.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 464, 15 June 1899, Page 6

LEADING BUSINESS MEN.

MR B- J. M. KEMP.

The are of dressing well is a subject that is always occupying the female mind, and continually engaging the attention of the mere male creature. Notwithstanding that we are constant in ascribing to women the monoply of vanity, there can be no doubt that a good many men are as much concerned about their personal appearance as are their sisters. To be in the fashion is the great idea of the majority, to be the leaders of fashion falls to the lot of the very few. We cannot, at the moment, put our finger on the Beau Brummel of Auckland, but we have in our mind’s eye two or three of the male sex who are as keen about the cut of their clothes, the colour and the texture of the material, as the women are about the latest mode from Paris, London, or Vienna. It has been said that the climate of Auckland allows no latitude in the matter of clothing, there is too much heat, consequently, both women and men are obliged to don clothing such an extent that be had to extend the premises considerably, and when the additions were completed, the Parnell tailoring and hosiery house had a frontage of thirty-two feet to the Manukau Road. The business still prospered exceedingly,

and in a few more years Mr Kemp yielded to the wishes of numerous friends, and determined to add millinery, ladies’ tailoring, mercery, and designed more for comfort than from the idea of being fashionable. Such a state of affairs may have prevailed years ago, nowadays it would be utterly impossible to say that Aucklanders were badly dressed. We may be a little later than London, Paris, and New York, but thanks to the enterprise of our leading milliners and tailors, we are never boplessly behind the times in the fashionable style of our apparel. One of the leading houses in Auckland is the establishment of Mr B J. M. Kemp in Parnell. Mr Kemp, who is a native of Surrey, England, came out to New Zealand in 1885, and in the same year he commenced business as a tailor at a small shop in the Manukau Road, Parnell, the site of his present e’aborate house, now familiarly known as “ Kemp’s corner.” In the course of five years Mr Kemp’s business had developed to general drapery to his business. To that end the premises were entirely rebuilt, and in 1897 the premises, es represented in ihe picture’accompanying this sketch, were opened New, the buildings have a total frontage of one hundred and twelve feet, and now the establishment has the reputation of being one of the most up-to-date and best-equipped houses in the colony. In the various departments and the work-rooms

there are employed over sixty hands, a big difference from the three employees engaged when the business was first established in 1885 In the branches of tailoring, dressmaking, and ladies’ tailoring —a special feature —Mr Kemp employs the best available talent, the heads of the men’s and ladies’ departments are possessed of very wide experier.ee, and as clients are aware, have great tate and judgment. The success of the Parnell tailoring and dressmaking house is, in a great measure, due to the proprietor keeping fully abreast of the times. He imports direct all the latest novelties requisite for carrying on a successful drapery business, his tweeds, cloths, and dress stuffs come direct from the manfacturer, and he is in touch with all the leading European merchants, so that if there is anything new under the sun, Mr Kemp brings it to Auckland for the benefit of his patrons throughout the colony. The proprietor spares no pains in the carrying out the slightest detail of his business, and to thia whole hearted interest in his work must be attributed some measure of the success he ha’ achieved. Whether at Parnell or at hie City address: Temple Chambers, Queen Street, he is always urbane, pressure of business never seeming to disturb the equanimity which marks the man, who, by quiet energy and determination, has become one of the leading merchants of Auckland.