There is a street in Hastings that people drive windows down and boom box up. It runs west from the CBD...past the parked cars, past the old cinema, past the buildings that have been here longer the people who walk around them. Heretaunga Street West. The 100 block, the 200, the 300, the 400. Four blocks. Fifty-nine businesses. Hundreds of people behind counters, in kitchens, on phones, doing alterations, threading lashes, fixing screens, pulling espresso, rolling sushi, pressing suits.
This is WestSide...and it has been here the whole time.
WestSide Hastings CBD is a community-led directory, media and editorial platform built to document and amplify the businesses around Heretaunga Street West... an area that sits just outside the Hastings CBD Business Association BID boundary, operating independently... sustaining itself on the loyalty of its regulars and the grit of its owners. We built the directory. We mapped the street... and now we're writing the story.
The western end of Heretaunga feeds the city. From the morning rush at Dax Cafe and Sutto Cafe, there are two independent espresso spots that have earned their regulars the hard way... to the lunch crowds at Asian Satay Noodle House, VietThai Cuisine, Kami Sushi, and Thai Orchid, WestSide puts the calories in the tradies...the lunchtimes convos for the couples and the Asian smack of spice that no colonial countryman can get near. It's the kind of variety you'd expect on a city strip twice its size.
CoLlab Cafe brings something different — a collaborative spirit that fits the WestSide ethos exactly. OMGoodness has built a following on flavour alone. John's Bakery & Cafe is the kind of institution that a neighbourhood doesn't appreciate until it's gone. Charm Eatery & Bar anchors the evening offer. And behind it all, the quiet infrastructure of the strip: Woolworths drawing foot traffic, Organic Farm Butchery serving the food-conscious, Heretaunga Super Mart filling the gaps.
CoLlab Cafe brings something different... a place where cops and cases mix with the office workers above... fitting the WestSide ethos exactly. OMGoodness has brought its following East on baked goods alone. John's Bakery & Cafe is the kind of institution that a neighbourhood doesn't appreciate until it's gone... Charm Eatery & Bar anchors the evening offer. ...and behind it all, the big shop of the strip: Woolworths draws in the foot traffic...and Organic Farm Butchery serves up the BBQ goods and Heretaunga Super Mart refueling the RSE workers with chicken and chips at a volume few beyond WestSide appreciate.
You can get a haircut, have your lashes done, get your eyes tested, train in martial arts, do a dance class, get a Thai massage, and walk out with a new pair of glasses... all within four blocks. WestSide's wellness offer is deep and genuinely bonkers for the size of the city, anchored by practitioners who have been serving the same clients since your Dad was a boy.
Mphosis Hair is a WestSide institution... a salon with a loyal following that is driven by standards and loyal clients. Anna's Beauty Lounge and Lili Beauty have built their reputations on results. Lien Lashes is the kind of specialist that draws customers from across the region. Urban Retreat and Bliss Thai Massage offer a quieter moment on a busy street. Flex Fitness and Kupa Martial Arts serve the fitness community with serious intent. Get those reps in, tone those glutes...get that body Insta ready. Rezpect Dance adds culture and movement. And Spex Eyewear, Shampoo Plus and The Physio make WestSide the kind of strip where you don't need to waste pricey petrol going anywhere else.
The branded anchors are familiar: Farmers, Hallensteins, Michael Hill, Pascoes...national names that bring consistent foot traffic to the strip and hold the core of the precinct. But the character of FashionWest lives in the independents: Grieves Jewellers and Thomson's Suits, both trading with the kind of quiet authority that only decades of fitting people well can earn. Caroline Eve and Suzelle Lingerie for women who know exactly what they want or need a subtle hand in getting just the right fit. Rivers to Ranges and Saddlery Warehouse for the rural connection that Hastings was made from. Alexander's Apparel, Rick's Island Clothing, SCM Fashion... different voices, different customers, same street.
And then there is Hokohoko Shop — a Māori-owned social enterprise that sits on this strip not just as a retailer but as a statement about who belongs here and what commerce can be for. And O'Connell Furniture... proving that a street this good needs somewhere to sit down.
Every great street needs a few places that don't take themselves too seriously. FunWest is WestSide's leisure layer....the shops you wander into without a plan and leave with something unexpected.
Music Works is the lyrical anchor of the community... instruments, lessons, repairs, and the particular energy of a place where musicians actually hang out. The Line Gallery brings tokenized art to the strip, quietly insisting that digital culture belongs on commercial streets. Whitcoulls provides the books, stationery and gifts that every town needs within walking distance. The Lolly Shop is exactly what it sounds like... the sugar rush 3pm school's out high to power the arvo. F.W. Liley is an institution... the kind of homeware store that, for generations, has been accessorising get togethers with glass and class across Hastings households. Then there's the bad boys... Hawke's Bay Vapour and Shosha...fuelling the weekends after the visits WestSide. And The Dollar Warehouse rounds out the fun with almost everything you need... FunWest reflects the full range of what a real neighbourhood looks like.
The national carriers are here... Spark, 2degrees, One...giving WestSide the kind of telco coverage that anchors a retail strip. Around them, a constellation of independent specialists: Smart Mobiles, FoneMate, Mobile Paradise, Mobile Point, Phone Zone, and Cash Connectors, each with their own loyal customer base built on quick turnarounds and real expertise. Rapid Tech Solutions and Hector Jones extend the offer beyond phones into the broader world of devices, repairs, and solutions.
In an era when everyone needs a working phone, WestSide has quietly become Hastings' technology corridor.
Fifty-nine businesses. Five categories. Four blocks. One street that has been doing the kind of high margin commercial industry that has carried the region for decades.
WestSide Hastings CBD exists to give a face to that engine. The directory maps every business. The Instagram surfaces their stories. The editorial... starting with this piece... reflects the reality of the WestSide precinct as its own cultural destination. And the WestSide Association Membership is building the governance structure that will give these businesses a formal voice with Hastings District Council for the first time.
The street has always been here. Now it has a name.
WestSide