Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Opinion: Tauranga CBD retailers closed at weekends bad business all round

Sonya Bateson
By Sonya Bateson
Regional content leader, Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post·Bay of Plenty Times·
19 Oct, 2018 03:31 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Tauranga - home to 130,000 people who can't shop in the CBD on a Saturday afternoon. Photo / File

Tauranga - home to 130,000 people who can't shop in the CBD on a Saturday afternoon. Photo / File

I'm on the hunt for a small, good-looking coffee table.

It needs to have a shelf or drawer and not be longer than 100cm, so it fits nicely in our small lounge.

Hubby and I were running errands last weekend and decided that, while we were out, we would nip into a few shops in Tauranga to investigate their selection and prices.

We had a few stores in mind to check out, so off to the city centre we went.

We managed to find a carpark and walked towards the first store - only to discover it was closed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Huh.

Odd on a Saturday afternoon. Or so we thought.

Off we trotted to another shop we like. Closed doors.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

We weren't the only befuddled ones - a young couple approached from the other direction and looked as puzzled as we did at the locked entrance.

We exchanged looks and, uttering one word - "Tauranga" - we shrugged and went our separate ways.

It astounds me that a CBD in a city with a population of more than 130,000 doesn't cater to weekend crowds.

Ten, 20 years ago, this would have been par for the course, but in this day and age, closing early on a weekend is bad business.

Discover more

New Zealand

Series of quakes in the Bay of Plenty

17 Oct 06:00 PM

NZTA urges motorists to plan ahead for their Labour Weekend

17 Oct 08:00 PM
New Zealand

Police make dramatic arrest at sea in Mount Maunganui

18 Oct 02:22 AM
New Zealand

Police seek teens after intruder lockdown at Tauranga's Aquinas College

19 Oct 01:00 AM

People like myself who work during the week have two days they can shop on - Saturday and Sunday - and if all the CBD stores are closed, we're going to take our business to the malls and big-box retailers.

Tauranga's CBD is my preferred shopping destination. Many of my favourite stores reside there, and it is closest to home.

But if closed doors keep preventing me from shopping there, I'm going to have no choice but to take my money elsewhere.

It's a choice many others seem to have accepted. Bayfair was busy.

I still haven't found the right coffee table.

But, hopefully, the right one is waiting for me behind some of those locked doors, and I'll actually get a chance to find it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Magnitude 4.7 earthquake rattles Bay of Plenty

Bay of Plenty Times

Meet the candidates running for Bay of Plenty Regional Council

Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga GP honoured for 'investing in the next generation of doctors'


Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Magnitude 4.7 earthquake rattles Bay of Plenty
Bay of Plenty Times

Magnitude 4.7 earthquake rattles Bay of Plenty

The rumble was registered at a depth of 127km.

05 Aug 05:49 AM
Meet the candidates running for Bay of Plenty Regional Council
Bay of Plenty Times

Meet the candidates running for Bay of Plenty Regional Council

05 Aug 04:26 AM
Tauranga GP honoured for 'investing in the next generation of doctors'
Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga GP honoured for 'investing in the next generation of doctors'

05 Aug 02:39 AM


Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’
Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

04 Aug 11:37 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP