July 15, 2020
localmatters.co.nz
Your locally-owned FREE Community Newspaper
Business shares air of cautious optimism First we had ‘the bubble’, now it looks like we might have ‘the bounce’. Businesses on the Coast are quietly optimistic about the future following a positive return to business in the first few weeks of level 1. While no one is popping champagne corks just yet, and everyone acknowledges that some sectors such as hospitality and travel have been hard hit, there are definite signs of confidence and determination. Destination Orewa Beach manager Hellen Wilkins agrees that most businesses are upbeat and positive, and have experienced great customer support from day one of level 2. “Some were a little slower but we haven’t really heard of one business that is ‘struggling’, which is heartwarming,” she says. “Businesses just made it work the best they could – they adapted their business model to work around Covid requirements introducing non-contact delivery services, creating an online sales page on their website, serving takeaways when they previously didn’t and so on. We take our hat off to each and every one of them.” Business and property advisor Marcus Macdonald, of Magna Consultants, says while some businesses did go under during lockdown, he suspects Covid was not the cause. “My impression is that these businesses were probably going to fail at some stage anyway,” he says. Marcus says he is a little surprised
Pharmacist Anthony Wentworth, owner of Life Pharmacy Orewa, and most of his 32 staff worked through the lockdown. Trade was down, but not enough to qualify for the wage subsidy. Once the pharmacy’s doors reopened, sales were better than expected. In fact, last month’s taking were better than last year. “These are very uncertain times and NZ won’t be immune to what’s going on in the rest of the world.”
The owner of Never Ending Books in Orewa, Anne Pretorius, closed for five weeks during lockdown. She took the wage subsidy for herself and a part-time staff member, and made use of her free time to do some trading online and set-up a website. She says trading in level 1 has been “amazing”. “I can’t replenish my stock of books and puzzles fast enough. Every thing has just been flying out the door. I think the fact that the libraries were closed was a factor.” Anne says she has her fingers crossed that the shop’s surge in popularity will continue.
Advance Office Products was an essential service during lockdown, with owners Anna and Campbell Davis, and their son Hunter, working 10-hour days to meet the needs of medical centres, tradespeople and other essential services. The shop re-opened to the public at level 2. “We’ve been very busy, definitely busier than this time last year and are feeling very positive about the next six months,” Anna says. She says small businesses have to have contingencies for when major disruptions like a pandemic hit. “We took the first wage subsidy for us and our staff – it was hugely important.”
Liquorland Orewa owner Bryan Russell closed his shop for three-and-a-half weeks during lockdown and then did contactless deliveries before moving to click and collect in level 2. He took the wage subsidy for himself and two staff, which importantly enabled him to retain long-serving staff. He says business is back to normal, if not better. “No travel has meant no duty free liquor – spirit sales, in particular, have been very good.”
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