‘For the fun of it’: Emporium founder sets up arts creativity fund for city school children

Saturday, 6 June 2026

Momentum Waikato deputy chairwoman Dame Susan Hassall, Momentum Waikato endowments general manager Janice Lapwood, D Lloyds’ Art Fund benefactor David Lloyd, and Momentum Waikato trustee JoanForrett, at the signing of the fund’s ‘deed of gift’ at Lloyd's home in Hamilton Lake on Wednesday.

He’s possibly best known for establishing a store that for decades has helped many Hamilton youngsters find material for their school art projects.

Now David Lloyd is taking that role one step further with the establishment of a philanthropic fund that will help supply the city’s schools with money to foster their pupils’ creativity.

Managed by Momentum Waikato, the D Lloyds' Art Fund is named after both David and his son Dax, who died last year in Sydney following a cardiac arrest.

But before he gets into the specifics of explaining why he is doing what he is doing, there is one thing Lloyd wants to make clear:

“The apostrophe in the fund’s name comes after the S. That’s because it’s for Dax as well as myself. I realise the placement of that apostrophe is going to wind people up, but that’s tradition. I did leave the apostrophe out of Davids Emporium and that drove some people mad.”

It would be fair to say Lloyd, 83, has long been known for his cheeky sense of humour. He is also well known as an arts patron, and since he was 60 he has been making grants to Waikato schools to support their arts programmes.

Davids - often corrected to David's - Emporium was, for many years, a Hamilton institution during its tenure in Hood St. The store's current premises in Alexandra St has also forsaken the apostrophe. ‘It drives some people mad,’ chortles former owner David Lloyd.

He is himself a lifelong multidisciplinary artist and art collector. He frequently hosted exhibitions at his gallery on Lake Crescent, although this has recently been closed.

He is also a former teacher, his career in that field lasting 16 years before heading into the world of retail, and his altruistic notions have included creating art installations for schools.

Like its founder, Davids Emporium is a Hamilton institution. Opened in 1980 in Alexandra St, it moved to Hood St a couple of years later. Lloyd ran the business until he sold it to his daughter and her husband in 2004.

In 2014 it relocated back to Alexandra St, to much larger premises.

Lloyd took up art with gusto after retiring from retailing, and found “the simple fun of just creating something out of nothing” to be addictive. It’s a joy he hopes to pass on to the city’s children.

As Lloyd puts it, setting up a fund to benefit schools was something that came naturally - “There was no compulsion, just flow.”

He was inspired after learning of the Tauranga-based Acorn Foundation, which manages endowments on people’s behalf, and subsequently discovering this region’s equivalent, Momentum Waikato.

The fund will be used to support primary and intermediate school holiday programmes, access to arts activities, and opportunities that extend their engagement in arts, culture, or creativity in their day-to-day school lives.

The fund was activated by the signing of a “deed of gift”, and this week Momentum deputy chairwoman Dame Susan Hassall and trustee Joan Forrett met with Lloyd to add their signatures to that document.

Lloyd demurs from specifying how much the fund will initially be worth - “Let’s just say a sizeable amount … I’m using my pension, and there will be eight local schools that will benefit from it each year - two per term.”

“I have gone with Momentum because it’s a perpetual trust. The fund will slowly build and it will go on forever. They make it really easy for you, because they provide the entire set-up.”

Lloyd is hoping his fellow well-off Hamiltonians will follow his lead.

“I love the concept of giving back … I would like to see people consider putting 1% of their final estate, whatever it may be, into a Momentum fund or something like it, to help those who need to be helped.”

With many of the Baby Boomer generation reaching the end of their lifespans, New Zealand is on the cusp of the biggest mass intergenerational transfer of wealth in the country’s history - but not all of it needs to be a straight hand-me-down of inheritance from parent to offspring, Lloyd reckons. The wider community can benefit too.

“Giving back means contributing your time, money, or skills to help others and improve your community, typically without expecting anything in return. It is a way to show gratitude for your own successes by supporting those in need.

“To put it simply, this is my way of saying thank you to the community that has supported me all these years.”