By Tania Phillips
Rose City Wool and Skins is one of those businesses that you don’t find on every street corner, and you would be certainly hard-pressed to find in the city.
The business, which includes Rosewool Uggs & Rugs on the corner of Palmerin and Grafton Streets in Warwick, has been operating in Warwick for more than 35 years, buying and exporting wool and skins from local farmers and abattoirs.
And with less sheep and abattoirs around these days owner Tony Gilchrist agreed that it was a business that wasn’t a dime a dozen. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to think of anywhere that you could buy quality ugg boots, scuffs, slippers and half slippers and two different kinds of moccasins, along with cowhides, sheepskins, alpaca and cowhide cushions, alpaca hats and apparel and extra-large sheepskin blankets all in one place.
“The business has been going since 1985,” he said.
“There was a need for a wool buyer in Warwick, so the business was started up and we’ve been going ever since. We source our wool locally though the wool days aren’t what they used to be; a lot of breeders have switched over to a meat breed. It’s harder to make up lines to sell and buy.”
Tony said he tries to have all sheepskin and cowhide products in the shop – attracting a lot of tourists who can find nothing like it. He said being in the industry for so long he has made a lot of contacts and can source a large variety of products.
“I try to keep things as cheap as I can so I can turn things over and I get good comments from people coming into my shop saying – oh wow your prices are good,” he said.
“Winter is my time for the shop. With the wool business, I could see it was starting to decline and I needed something else to go along with the business, keep the sales up – diversifying. So, the shop keeps me going during the wintertime.”
He said he couldn’t put all his eggs in one basket and now had three businesses in one with the raw skins that come in from the abattoirs, the wool that comes in from the farmers and then the shop.
“Only problem is I don’t employ anyone now – it’s an early start and I get as much done at the shed as I can then it’s down to the shop,” Tony chuckled.
“With the wool and the skins, a lot of the private wool-buyers have closed down across the country so there aren’t many of us left. It’s a bit of a unique trade these days.
“People come in and see our cowhides and say it’s hard to find these unless you buy them over the internet. Some have said we’ve bought them online and the skins that we ordered aren’t what we wanted, different colouring and the sizes are always smaller. So they come into my shop and they can hand select and see the skin they are actually buying.”
Find Rosewool Uggs and Rugs on the corner of Palmerin and Grafton Streets, check them out on Facebook or phone 0438615321.
