Count them down ... but not out. When a supermarket chain decided to kick PostShop out of a shopping centre, it made a major mistake. It didn't count on the spirit of the Mangere community. Rowena Orejana reports.
Dave Carson is wearing a camouflage cap and holding a megaphone. His gaily coloured floral-print shirt jars with his statements.
This picket is not a lighthearted affair for more than 200 Mangere residents protesting against the possible closure of their PostShop.
They call it a David and Goliath contest between them and big business, Countdown.
Countdown blinks first.
Their heavyweight opponent is Progressive Enterprises, Countdown's mother company, which wants to redevelop the shopping centre.
Progressive handed PostShop an eviction order effective on April 7 but has now rescinded that notice.
Mr Carson, 76, has no issue with the redevelopment but contends that Countdown should not shut down a facility the community needs.
"If they will do such a thing, I may as well go and shop at Pak'n Save," he says.
Not that he doesn't sometimes shop at Pak'n Save, but his view illustrates how Countdown has alienated customers with its recent moves.
A survey by the area's business group shows that 90 per cent of those going to the shopping centre are headed for the PostShop.
Only half of those surveyed said they went there specifically to shop at Countdown.
Arvind Dharamsi has run the shop for 19 years, first as a stationery shop offering postal services and, for the past six years, as a PostShop.
"It is not about me," Mr Dharamsi says, "it is about the services that have to be retained. That's what they are reacting to."
After the residents' picket, Progressive's development manager for properties, Brady Nixon, told Mr Dharamsi in an email that his tenancy could continue on a monthly basis until they can find a suitable solution.
Mr Nixon says Countdown can adapt their design to include the shop and would help Mr Dharamsi with the move.
But the residents are cautious about declaring a victory.
"It's still a little bit vague," says Roger Fowler of the Mangere East Action Trust.
"Until we are clear on what it is they intend to do our protest actions will continue." They plan to boycott the supermarket and set up shuttle bus services to take customers to competitors.
Countdown says it will talk to residents this week to try to sort out the problem.
That is a major turnaround. Residents say that Coundown has snubbed two community meetings.
Mr Carson says no one need be losers.
"If they are so keen to pull the thing down they need to build us another one," he says.
Otherwise, the megaphone and floral shirt might be making more public appearances.
Meanwhile, in Takanini
Takanini's PostShop will lose its Kiwibank and bill-paying facilities.
Papakura Mayor Calum Penrose says New Zealand Post is "cutting off a life link to Takanini" by shifting the bank and bill-paying facilities from 1-15 Princess St to 230 Great South Rd in Southgate.
Mr Penrose says that, in doing so, it is ignoring a petition of more than 5000 signatures from local people who oppose the move.
He has been through eight months of meetings with NZ Post to give it reasons to stay, but to no avail.
"It's pretty damn sad - it's sad for the locals," Mr Penrose says.
NZ Post retail manager Michelle van Gaalen says she appreciates the concerns of some residents in the area and understands that changes to services can often be unsettling.
But "as the Southgate retail centre is a centralised hub for the community, we can better serve the majority of our customers through upgraded services at this location".
The new shop will open on March 29.