Not every store can claim to “punch well above our weight” – but a recent accolade earned by Stihl Shop Thames speaks for itself.
The team of five, led by co-owners Jill Gavey, Nic Jensen and Toni-Lee Moore, prides itself on delivering top-notch customer service and knowledge about outdoor power products for people in the Thames-Coromandel area.
It’s something Stihl Shop Thames was recognised and commended for in June this year at the 2025 Stihl New Zealand Dealer Forum, when they clutched the award for Customer Excellence Store of The Year 2024.
Co-owner Nic Jensen said the award came as a result of their customer feedback. “It’s quite a big deal for us really because it’s not just based on dollars and numbers and what you’re doing in house – it’s purely from your customers’ feedback,” he said.
But it wasn’t just a handful of stores in the mix for the top award – Stihl Shop Thames was one of more than 80 Stihl Shops from across New Zealand. Nic said it was the first time the team had ever snapped up the award. A big part of it was that they’d always been a pretty good little store, he said.
While the store had picked up various awards over the years, he said “we do punch well above our weight I believe, for our size [and] where we are”.
Experience in the industry was something that propelled the team. Nic said Jill had 30 years of experience in the industry, alongside his own 18 years of experience, while team technicians Mike Hewson and James Russek had started to “rack up some numbers”. “We’re all fully qualified in what we do, we’ve got a lot of experience in what we do, and I think really, the motivation is just supplying a good service to the wider community.”
Stihl Shop New Zealand was also voted in September as the top hardware store for the ninth time, and therefore ‘Stihl’ holds the Consumer NZ’s People’s Choice award.
“We’ve serviced the Coromandel area for a long time and reputation is a powerful tool so you know we really try and do what we can to keep everyone happy and everyone ticking over,” Nic said.
“I think our sales knowledge and service knowledge is the key to that.”
By DAVIDDA HIKATANGATA
