There are few stores as iconic as Uptown’s House of Knives. Opened in 1987, New Zealand’s first dedicated knife store is still family-owned and managed and even today you’re as likely to find husband and wife team John and Avalon Fryer on the shop floor as you are son and operations manager Shannon.

Shannon is well placed to talk about the evolution of the business, as he’s played a part from the beginning. He remembers helping his father paint the original store when he was around nine – back then the House of Knives was two rooms of an old Ponsonby villa – and making his first sale. “My father said to me, ‘I don’t want you working in the store’,” says Shannon, but from day dot he has been there anyway, watching the shop after school and on weekends. He even recalls scouting for the perfect location before the business moved into its Uptown site in 1995.

“This place was six or seven times bigger than what we had in Ponsonby,” he says. “But we had so much stuff crammed in there – on the walls, hanging from the ceiling, some storage space a couple of doors down, and mum and dad were using our rumpus room at home as a warehouse – when we moved here, we didn’t buy any extra stock and we filled the shop.”

Today, House of Knives’ location on a busy bend in Mt Eden Rd puts it in view of thousands of commuters between the city and Mt Eden each day. “We get a lot of people pulling over saying, ‘I’ve been driving past this store for 20 years and I’ve never come in, I thought you only sold knives!’. Then they’ll spend an hour perusing everything in the shop.”

Anyone who’s visited over the years knows that the name is a misnomer; there is so much more than just knives on the shelves. Past the chefs’ knives and specialist kitchen equipment, you’ll also find kilogram bags of rock salt, bulk packs of tea lights, kitchenware, home cookbooks, teaspoons and tea towels, NZ-made kitchen uniforms exclusive to the store, and Shannon’s custom-made blade sharpening machines whirring in the basement.

“We started selling things that cut,” says Shannon. “But chefs want rolling pins, they want bowls, so we find ourselves now with 5000 stock items, after I culled it back, and with access to close to 100,000 items.”

Blades however remain the specialty. From scissors and manicure and pedicure equipment, hair- dressing tools, fibreglass boat scissors, carpet scissors, straight razors and strops to world-class kitchen knives imported from around the world.

The store even stocks knives designed in-house and manufactured in Germany. The most popular of these is a knife with a unique reverse serration, produced by German knife maker Friedr Dick.

“Germans are very traditional, they know what they know, they like what they like, and they very rarely will change it,” he says. “But New Zealand is a pretty young country and we’re a little bit more receptive to change. We asked them if they could produce this particular pastry knife, but with the serration that goes the other way. They chuckled and said, ‘Sure, but you have to take 250 of them’. So we did and in that first year, we reordered the product four times.”

This knife now sells in its thousands – if you’re interested, go in and ask to see the “super slicer”.

Shannon is the first to admit that the store is up against steep competition these days. Costs are lower for international wholesalers selling into New Zealand, and international postage rates are cheaper than what’s available here.

But a family store will always beat the online competition for in-store experience and expertise. You can even take in your carrots to test out the merch (or your sides of salmon, as one customer once did) and find the perfect fit. Choosing the right knife is all about the feel after all.

“We have a very small crew here, which is why you’ll find Mum working on the floor and Dad in the office. When someone comes in, we’re not going to sell them 500 knives, we’re going to start them off with what they need. If they don’t need the Rolls-Royce of knives, we’re not going to sell it to them. If they want to chat, we’ll spend the time talking about what they need, how to maintain them and how to store them. And if you’re in a hurry, we can also do the quick sale. The truth is, knives are a pretty simple thing, but people do try to make them complicated.” 

The perfect knife collection for home

You don’t need a whole knife block and you definitely don’t need matching handles. In fact, just two or three great knives will do almost everything a home cook needs. Here’s Shannon’s guide to the perfect home knife collection.

Cook’s knife

The most basic and essential knife, to chop everything from herbs to pumpkins. Finding the right weight and balance for you is more important than spending a lot of money.

Paring knife

This little knife will top and tail carrots and chop your beans, but also deal with fruit and look good on a cheeseboard.

Maintenance steel

Used to straighten your blades (as opposed to sharpen them), a steel is essential. Without one, your knives are simply not going to perform as well as they should. 

House of Knives

24 Mt Eden Road

Ph: 09 302 2980
Web: houseofknives.co.nz
Email: auckland@houseofknives.co.nz