Covid 19 coronavirus: Hair appointments, knitting needles and alcohol spikes in Tauranga with lockdown fears

Liquor Hut Mount Maungauni store manager Kultaran Singh says people have been buying double what they usually do. Photo / George Novak

Knitting supplies are running low, twice as much alcohol is being purchased and hair dye appointments have been made as people scurry to prepare for "lockdown 2.0".

Crop Hair Design, which has salons in Otumoetai and Mount Maunganui, has had call after call from people wanting to know when they can get their colour re-done.

"People are starting to feel like - if we go into lockdown, I'm going to need to get my colour done before we do that," owner Jo Brown said.

It had taken five weeks of 12-hour days, seven days a week to get through the backlog from the lockdown.

There had also been a spike in people buying at-home treatments.

She said a move to level 3 or 4 would be difficult for the business and the teams had been talking to their customers, many of whom were elderly and lived alone, making sure they were okay.

They would not be able to work in level 3 and it would be a matter of keeping customers informed on when they could open again.

Liquor Hut Mount Maunganui manager Kultaran Singh said they had double the usual alcohol sales following the announcement on Tuesday night.

"They say they don't know if we're going into lockdown and if they can get alcohol ... people are panicking."

He was "nervous" of what a second time in level 3 or 4 would mean for business with customers only able to shop online.

Liquor Hut Mount Maungauni store manager Kultaran Singh says people have been buying double what they usually do. Photo / George Novak

The Bottle-O Hillsdene owner said if the country moved to level 3, he would not place his usual order on Monday to save as much money as possible.

He said sales would at least halve, despite one day of double the usual sales on Thursday.

Wool and knitting needles are running low in stock with Tauranga Knitting Centre being busy ever since the initial lockdown.

Wool and knitting needles are running low in stock. Photo / File

"Everyone's just picking up knitting again ... our suppliers are struggling to keep up," owner Lynette Launder said.

She said a shipment of wool from Australia was on its way.

Crown and Badger bar owner Jessica Rafferty said there had been "lots" of cancellations, saying there was a lot of uncertainty, which was the difficult part of this time around.

Bands and security were on standby waiting for the announcement because any decision by the Government would need to be implemented within seven hours as the bar shut at 2am.

How the future of the business played out if there was a move to level 3 depended on the Government support they would get as wages were the biggest expense.

Crown and Badger owner Jessica Rafferty. Photo / File

She said without support, they would not do takeaways and would likely close for that period of time.

Chadwick Rd Dairy owner Hemand Deo said while more bread had been sold, there had been no increased demand for any other products.

He said health and safety was something that needed to be taken seriously and had safety measures in place to keep themselves and customers safe.

"It's a scary time for us," he said, working on the frontline.

A move to level 3 would hit the business with fewer people coming into the store.