City woes force MacKenzie Country store to shift

Parking problems, uncertainty regarding the future of a downtown earthquake-prone building and other issues have led a well-known clothing retailer to move across the harbour to Mount Maunganui.

The MacKenzie Country store in Grey St, Tauranga, will be closed when all the present stock is sold and the owner, Keith Livingstone, is reopening in Maunganui Rd under a new brand, Lifestyle Clothing.

Mr Livingstone was due to renew his lease in the Churchill Building in March but he was unsure when the three-level building would be strengthened.

It is one of 62 pre-1976 office and retail buildings in downtown Tauranga that must be strengthened within 10 years, after being issued a notice from the city council.

Council's structural engineers are presently assessing the earthquake standard of buildings throughout the city.

Mr Livingstone said he didn't want to invest in a new fit-out and then lose out when work on the building was completed.

"What happens in the downtown when all the [strengthening] work is done? Where will the retailers go while this is happening? Some of the streets may have to be closed and the retailers will lose trade.

"I don't think a lot of tenants are aware of the implications, and the downtown area faces a daunting task," he said.

Mr Livingstone said he continually encountered parking problems for himself and his staff.

"They can't get parking under $5 a day and early in the morning there's more parking wardens on the street than customers.

"I use a car instead of a service vehicle to transport my clothing stock and I get hammered for parking in the five-minute [loading bay] area near the store," he said, adding his Saturday trade had fallen off.

"Families like to have fun in the weekend, go shopping and visit the cafes. But the cafes in our vicinity are not open."

Mr Livingstone said when more than 140 people from Sharp Tudhope, KPMG and Bayleys move into new offices "a lot of foot traffic will be going off Grey St. You add up all these factors and it was difficult to sign a [new] three-year lease".

Sharp Tudhope is constructing its own building on the corner of First Ave and Devonport Rd, and KPMG and Bayleys staff are moving into the new $30 million business centre to be completed on the corner of Elizabeth St and Cameron Rd by the end of the next year.

Mr Livingstone has operated the MacKenzie Country store in Grey St for 12 years but during the past two years it has sold other labels such as RM Williams and Macjays Clothing.

The supply of MacKenzie Country stock - which had sold for nearly 100 years - suddenly stopped when the new master franchise company went into liquidation.

Mr Livingstone is re-fitting the former Glam Revival store in the Mount Phoenix Shopping Centre and expects to open Lifestyle Clothing in mid-September.

His three staff at MacKenzie Country will move to the Maunganui Rd store.

Mr Livingstone, a retailer in Tauranga for nearly 23 years, has three other fashion stores in Mid City Mall, Bethlehem Town Centre and downtown Mount under the brand, Status Clothing.