From the Farm to the CBD: Meet Anna of Belleza

Three Reasons to Visit Belleza at The Crossing:

• A Curated Wardrobe With Its Own Point of View: Belleza brings together contemporary fashion and beautiful interior pieces, all chosen with a sharp eye so you won’t walk out looking like everyone else on the street. Sitting at a considered mid-tier price point, it’s a collection built for women who want colour, wearability and a bit of individuality.
• A Genuinely Warm, Relaxed Welcome: Owner Anna has built Belleza around one simple idea: you’re always welcome. Whether you’re a local popping in on your lunch break, in town for a conference, or visiting Christchurch for the weekend, the store’s relaxed feel and friendly service are what keep people coming back.
• Nine Years of Experience, Four in the Making at The Crossing: From small-town beginnings in Tai Tapu and Lincoln to the heart of the CBD, Anna has spent nearly a decade building Belleza into a much-loved Christchurch fashion and homewares destination – and The Crossing has been the making of it.

Belleza has become one of those Crossing stores that regulars talk about with real affection – for its colour, its considered edit of clothing and decor, and the warmth of the woman behind it. Owner Anna has been trading for nine years, but it’s the last four, spent in The Crossing, that she now describes as the turning point for her business.

Before the CBD, Belleza was a rural affair. Anna started out in the small district of Tai Tapu, right on the Akaroa Highway, before a stint in nearby Lincoln. It meant a very different kind of customer to the one she has today, though plenty of her original Tai Tapu clientele still find their way to the store. Moving into central Christchurch was never part of the plan. “I’m such a farm girl at heart,” Anna says, “and I found the city intimidating.” When The Crossing first approached her, she said no four times, unsure the city was the right fit for her. What eventually changed her mind was recognising that, even if she wasn’t sure the city suited her personally, it suited Belleza. “I had to take myself out of the equation.”

It’s proven to be, in her words, the best business decision she’s ever made. The move hasn’t been without its challenges – Covid and the economic pressures that followed have made for what Anna calls “a bit of a rollercoaster” – but the fundamentals have paid off. Being in the CBD has given Belleza access to a far bigger foot count than her rural locations ever could, drawing on office workers, conference and event visitors staying nearby, and a steady flow of independent travellers who Anna says respond particularly well to the store. Add in Christchurch locals visiting the city, and a loyal corporate client base that’s grown since the move, and Belleza now serves a genuinely broad mix of shoppers, generally aged between 30 and 60.

What keeps them coming back is a clear sense of style. Anna describes Belleza’s price point as sitting in the mid-tier, with a styling approach that favours the contemporary over the predictable. “I’m always buying things that won’t make people look like 85 other people on the street,” she says. Customers consistently comment on the colour running through the collection, the wearability of the pieces, and the feel of the store itself – something Anna puts down simply to people’s own good judgement. The result is a shop that carries both fashion and interiors, allowing customers to build a look that extends from their wardrobe into their home.

Above all, Belleza is defined by its atmosphere. Anna sums up the vibe in two words: relaxed and welcoming. It’s an ethos that comes through in how she talks about the business’s future, too. Cash flow in a constrained economy is what keeps her up at night, she admits, but she senses a shift coming, with interest rates, fuel and food costs starting to ease and customer confidence slowly building. If she could change one thing about her time at The Crossing, it would be growing the interior design side of the business sooner – something the economy hasn’t quite allowed for yet, but which remains firmly on her radar.

Anna’s advice to any business considering The Crossing is straightforward: it’s a brilliant location with strong foot traffic, particularly at the Cashel Street end, which she’s watched grow steadily stronger for retail. Her own approach has been shaped by a piece of advice from a friend, one she still lives by: you play your strongest game when you play your own game. Rather than getting caught up in what competitors are doing, she stays focused on Belleza’s strengths.

At the end of a busy day in the city, Anna heads home to the Peninsula, where the drive itself becomes part of the unwind – by the time she reaches Tai Tapu, she says, she’s already starting to breathe easier. It’s a fitting contrast to the energy she brings to the shop floor each day: a farm girl at heart, who took a leap into the city and built something the CBD didn’t have before. As Anna puts it herself, there’s really only one thing she wants customers to know: you’re always welcome at Belleza.

Visit Belleza at The Crossing to explore the latest collection of contemporary fashion and interiors.