New direction for Hope building

A long-established Hope building will have a new occupier after the building was recently sold.

The building, located on the corner of White Rd and Main Rd Hope, was first established in 1955 as a grocery store and, after an interior fire in the late 70s, it was revitalised to facilitate a second-hand store before becoming a vet clinic until 1996 when it began its hospitality journey.

It facilitated a bar and café named Helvetias until 2004, Bedford Bar and Restaurant between 2004 and 2018, and most recently, the Dress Up Box and Café between 2018 and 2023.

Nelson App understands the site has been purchased and will become an Indian restaurant.

Naomi Winslade leased the building for about eight years in the 1990s when it facilitated Helvetias.

She says the location had “the most amazing local connection” and the atmosphere won’t be mild for its new tenants.

“Look after your locals and people who are your bread and butter, there’s some lovely people who will look after you, they certainly did for me,” she says.

“[Helvetias] was the first of the little urban bars before the Sprig and Ferns came along. It was a community bar and we built an outside area with a window bar onto it because the non-smoking laws came in while I was there. I’m pretty sure that I heard more than one local say it was the best use of the building that they had seen for a long time… we used to have the UK apple pickers in and they kept it humming in summer, and the motorbikers loved it, too.”

Dot Humphries, who owned the building between 2004 and 2018, offered advice to its new tenants.

“Be friendly, support the locals, advertise, create a great atmosphere, try to make it a destination,” she says.