Zizi Sparks: CBDs need support if they are to thrive

Vacant shops in the Rotorua CBD in late April. Photo / File

OPINION

It must be getting harder to become a business in the CBD following a spate of break-ins and some closures. It's more important to support them now than ever.

In the last week the Rotorua Daily Post spoke to shop owners who had been targeted by thieves.

One shop had been broken into twice in eight days, another shop owner said she couldn't sleep at night after worrying her shop may be broken into again.

Meanwhile, an iconic 60-year-old local butchery and international clothing chain became the latest Rotorua businesses to close their doors in the heart of the city's CBD.

And in Tauranga when a reporter visited the CBD in April, there were vacant premises decked out with "for lease" signs. Some signs directed shoppers to new stores at two of the malls in the area, Bayfair or Tauranga Crossing.

At that time Mainstreet Tauranga records showed about 75 per cent of the CBD's 699 spaces were occupied.

Many businesses have struggled to survive during Covid-19. Some have closed. Others are still struggling with a lack of international tourists and the cost of rent.

Being targeted by thieves must surely exacerbate these issues and make the motivation to keep running a CBD business low.

Real estate agents spoken to after recent Rotorua shop closures said businesses needed to learn to adapt and now was in fact a "good time for tenants and investors to secure spaces in the city" as some international tourists returned.

But I believe if we want to encourage a thriving central business district we need to make CBD businesses attractive and consumers need to prioritise shopping in CBDs rather than one-stop-shop malls, which I admit are convenient for days out purely to shop.

Just because we've tackled Covid-19 and are, so far, winning, it doesn't mean calls to support local should be abandoned.

We still need to buy goods and services from local businesses in our CBDs.

We need to make the area attractive for businesses looking for a home.

And people who can't find anything better to do than burgling businesses overnight need new hobbies.

If we want our CBDs to thrive, we need to take responsibility as consumers.