Fiveways Dairy is a small neighbourhood dairy at 418 Innes Rd in St Albans, Christchurch, its name nodding to the five-way intersection nearby, and it holds a 4.9 Google rating.
Dairies are a New Zealand institution: the corner shop that covers the milk-and-bread run, the after-school ice block, the forgotten ingredient — open longer hours than the supermarket and always a short walk from home. A good one lives on freshness and habit: staples turned over quickly, familiar faces behind the counter, and a stock that suits the street it sits on. Sizing one up, most people look at how fresh the bread and milk are, how the counter copes with the morning rush, and whether the local favourites are on the shelves. Regulars mostly walk; being close to home is the whole point.
A dairy's business is being needed every day, and on Innes Rd in St Albans, Fiveways has plainly earned that place in the neighbourhood.