Decoro Fishing Supplies has been part of the Bay of Plenty fishing scene for as long as most can remember. It all started in Te Puke, building nets for commercial fishing. As time went on, Decoro shifted to Mount Maunganui and adapted to the changing needs of the commercial fishing industry. But as that world changed, so did Decoro-gradually moving into retail sales and starting to make a name for itself among local anglers.

In 2018, I was looking to buy a business and Decoro caught my eye. As a keen fisherman I knew the Bay of Plenty's fishing retail scene well and I saw a big opportunity. No one was really nailing customer service in this space and I knew that with the right focus, we could change that. So, with my partner, Ginny Moore, we took the plunge and bought Decoro.

We jumped in with both feet, making changes quickly. But, as we soon learned, people don't always embrace change right away. Decoro had been around a long time, and the community was comfortable with the way things were. It took us longer than we expected to get folks to notice the improvements we'd made. We worked closely with local fishing clubs and started promoting the business more actively, and bit by bit, people began to come back. Once they rediscovered Decoro, they tended to stick with us.

Of course it wasn't all plain sailing. Managing cash flow in a growing business is always tricky and when you combine those challenges with COVID it threw up a whole new level of challenge. But through all that, we kept our focus on what mattered: providing the best service. We also took the opportunity to improve our online presence, making sure our website was up to scratch and that's been a continuous work in progress.

In March 2024, we made another big move by acquiring 'Bulk Baits', an importer and distributor of bait across the North Island. It was a strategic decision that's helped us keep growing, even in a challenging business environment.

At the heart of Decoro Fishing Supplies is a simple goal: we want to exceed our customers' expectations. We are all about offering great service and providing a product range that helps anglers, whether they're seasoned pros or just starting out to get the most out of their fishing adventures.

For us the best stories are the ones where we've helped someone catch a fish they'll never forget-whether it's a snapper off the beach or a marlin out wide.

We'll continue our journey of excellence and delivering the best service to our wide customer base and are proud to be an integral part of our fishing community.