The Riverhead Tavern had far more customers than expected over Christmas. Photo / Supplied
A wet start to summer has created a tale of two halves for the country's businesses. Those in urban centres are reporting booming business, while seaside operations, often heavily dependent on the summer season to tide them through winter, are reporting big drops in business.
Business advisers say the decision to open during this period, particularly over public holidays, is not always straightforward, wherever a business is based.
Terry Sage of Business Coaching New Zealand said the first decision was whether a business could afford to close. While a shut shop would not have to pay staff, a lot of fixed overheads have to be paid regardless. He had a panelbeater client who had decided it was not viable to close over the Christmas period because he would not have been able to pay his rent.
Sage said businesses would need to gauge what their clients and suppliers would be doing. "Gasfitting merchants would probably close, but general retailers banking on the New Year and Boxing Day sales to get them through winter have to open."
Paula Pepperell, co-owner of the Riverhead Tavern, said the crowds over the past couple of weeks, both locals and Auckland daytrippers, had surpassed expectations.
"We've been absolutely hammered. It was our first Christmas operating. We were told by the breweries we might as well shut the doors at Christmas and go away for January because there would be no one around."
But bookings had been flooding in. She estimated business was up 300 or 400 per cent on last summer.
Paymark statistics show people have stayed around the main centres. Boxing Day transactions were up 10 per cent in Wellington and 6.7 per cent in Auckland. Gisborne, a traditional summer holiday spot, was down 4.3 per cent.
Sage said if a business did not close at Christmas, there would have to be provision for staff to take leave at other times. "Some are closing at Christmas just to get rid of that fourth week of leave."
Pepperell said she let staff take annual leave at Christmas in the expectation that it would be quiet, and regretted it because the pub was short-staffed between Christmas and the end of December. By the time the New Year statutory holidays rolled around, everyone needed a break and the tavern closed on January 2 and 3.
Down the road at the Hallertau Brewery, the restaurant was full to capacity. Owner Stephen Plowman said the business was closed only on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. He imposed a 20 per cent surcharge on public holidays.
Sage said while most cafes and restaurants had a holiday surcharge, retailers also had to pay staff time-and-a-half and give them a day in lieu for public holidays.
For some businesses, not opening at Christmas was not an option. Many seaside towns throughout the country relied on their summer trade to get them through winter.
Murray Graham, owner of the Mangonui Fish Shop in Northland, said there was a "huge, huge increase" in the number of customers over summer. "The only day we close in summer is Christmas Day."
He kept the same core staff employed all year but hired students to help in summer.
Sage said that wet weather this year had made things very difficult in Tutukaka.
"There are so few people around ... they are losing $50,000 on this week alone."
He said this would traditionally be the time that would set up businesses to get through winter, but there were only enough people to fill one of the area's three main restaurants at a time. "If one is busy, the others are quiet."
But in Whangarei, Alan Ludlow, of Essence cafe, said the wet weather had pushed people from the beach and into the cafes. He said, in hindsight, closing on the public holidays might not have been the best idea. The cafe was extremely busy on the non-holiday days when it did open.
Ludlow said the decision not to open was made because he did not want to impose a surcharge and his wage bill would have been too steep.
But it is not just the customers businesses have to worry about. Sage said people would have to check with their suppliers to see what would be available.
The panelbeater who was working through had had to stock up on paint.
Pepperell said it was an obstacle for her, too. The restaurant's suppliers had been shut on the statutory holidays, so when tavern staff returned to work on January 4, they lacked a lot of fresh food supplies.
Sage said the decision to open would come down to individual businesses, their customers, suppliers and the market. "If you are in an industry where all your clients and suppliers are away, you might as well close, provided you can afford the overheads. But in some cases, there is no choice but to open."