Family devastated after 3rd-generation-owned fruit store is gutted by fire

In the 1930s Croatian migrant Cyril Nola bought land in Glen Eden and began selling produce from his garage.

Since then, the Nola family's livelihood has focused around growing his legacy into what is now known as the much-loved fruit and vegetable shop, Nola's Orchard.

But that legacy must now be rebuilt after fire gutted their three-generation-owned store on Wednesday morning, devastating the family.

"Three generations of Croatians have lived and owned the land and shop," his granddaughter, Julena Nola, told Newshub.

"It's quite full on for all of us. We grew up here. Dad was crying this morning. He is still distraught but getting better.

"I know it's just stuff but this shop was our memories and our lifestyle."

Cyril Nola arrived in New Zealand from Croatia by boat as a teenager to work in gum fields before marrying his wife and purchasing land in Glen Eden.

There he made a home, raising his children - Julena's father - and selling beans, eggs and tomatoes out of the garage.

Ms Nola said the shop grew from there and about 50 years ago, it became Nola's Orchard.

"It's going to have to be pulled down completely and rebuilt. All produce, fruit, veg, meat, dairy is ruined," she said.

Her dad took it over when he was an adult and her brother Ivan has been running it with him until now.

"We were the first people to start importing taro into New Zealand, then the clientele changed in the area and now we grow and sell things like kale and artichokes."

Emergency services responded to reports of a fire at the Glen Eden fruit shop on West Coast Road just after 7am on Wednesday morning.

Ms Nola was staying in a house behind the yard when the blaze took off. She woke up her father and rang the fire brigade, which had already been contacted by passing onlookers who noticed the smoke.

She wasn't in any immediate danger but her brother's house is next to the shop and she says his family could have been at risk if the blaze took off at night.

Her dad's love of food influenced her own interest in food, leading the married mother-of-one to create her own line of pre-made baking mixes, Hunter Gather Gourmet.

"Growing up on an orchard with a fruit and veg shop and Croatian parents who cooked fresh food every day certainly inspired me."

Ms Nola said an initial investigation into the fire indicates an electrical fault in the stand-alone fridges where the meat is stored.

As the family comes to terms with the loss of an important piece of their heritage, the focus turns to rebuilding.

"Bigger and better," Ms Nola said.

Newshub.