$300m enters Bay tills in one month - Paymark figures

Papamoa Plaza has been going great guns over February, centre manager David Hill said. Photo/file

Bay shoppers spent $309 million in February, 6.2 per cent more than what was spent the same time last year, according to Paymark.

The Bay had the third highest spending growth in the country, behind Hawke's Bay on 8.4 per cent and Palmerston North at 6.5 per cent.

David Hill, centre manager at Papamoa Plaza, said he was thrilled with the turnover figures for February 2017 compared with February 2016.

Mr Hill said figures at the Plaza indicated a significant increase on February 2016 figures.

"Papamoa is one of the fastest growing regions in New Zealand and turnover figures at Papamoa Plaza reflect this - and more," he said.

"With the recent addition of the food court at Papamoa Plaza and eight new stores prior to Christmas, this was our best-ever February trading month."

Mr Hill said traditionally the last two weeks of January and the first two weeks of February were the quietest trading periods of the year, due in part to rates accounts falling due, credit card bills from Christmas also due and the back-to-school bills of uniforms and stationery.

"We are very pleased for the retail growth to continue at the same rate as residential growth - perhaps a little more."

Mainstreet Tauranga spokeswoman Sally Cooke said Downtown Tauranga welcomed the continued good news on Paymark figures as it indicated businesses in the city centre were hopefully continuing to enjoy growth in spend.

"There certainly seems to be a more buoyant feel within our members and a reflection of that appears to be showing in these figures.

"Summer is always a strong period for the Bay in terms of visitor numbers and the two long weekends, Auckland Anniversary weekend and Waitangi weekend, obviously assist in attracting more people to the Bay who in turn come to the city centre to enjoy all that is on offer."

Ms Cooke said Mainstreet members were also commenting they were noticing an increasing number of cruise ship vacationers on city centre streets. This was reflected in good numbers of people using the Downtown Tauranga express bus operating between the cruise ships and city centre.

"We are also receiving good feedback about the Trustpower Photographic Exhibition which is drawing visitors into the city centre and contributing to foot traffic numbers that in turn then hopefully spend time in our stores, cafes, bars and restaurants.

"We look forward to continuing to see good growth for our city businesses," she said.

Bethlehem Town Centre centre manager Andrew Wadsworth said general feedback from retailers was that February was traditionally a tough month for retailers but this year saw an improvement on February 2016.

According to Paymark, the hospitality sector remained a strong contributor to total growth, with accommodation spending up 10.9 per cent, and food and beverage services up 8.4 per cent.

Fastest growth was recorded by fuel retailers (+19.3 per cent), while clothing and footwear store growth was zero between the two 28-day periods.

Paymark data February 2017 compared with February 2016

Hawke's Bay: $133.0m, up 8.4 per cent

Palmerston North: $150.5m, up 6.5 per cent

Bay of Plenty: $309.2m, up 6.2 per cent

Wanganui: $42.8m, up 4.9 per cent

Otago: $283.8m, up 4.2 per cent

New Zealand: $4681.5m, up 2.2 per cent