Newmarket group thrilled to outstrip CBD and Ponsonby

Chief Executive Ashley Church. Photo / Supplied

The Newmarket Business Association is celebrating research that suggests its retailers are outperforming those in the Auckland CBD and Ponsonby.

Vacant stores in the upmarket shopping district have attracted media attention over the past 15 months, with owners complaining of high rents and insufficient sales to cover overheads.

But the association - citing a report from research provider Marketview - said sales for Newmarket's retailers rose 5.4 per cent, or $27 million, in the year to June.

Sales in Ponsonby rose 4.2 per cent over the same period, while in the CBD they lifted just 2.1 per cent, according to the research.

The association said the figures were in stark contrast to those in the 2008/2009 year, when sales dropped.

Chief executive Ashley Church said the sales lift endorsed the organisation's strategy change.

"In October 2010, after three years of declining retail sales figures, we made the decision to retire the Newmarket 'brand' strategy in favour of an 'events-based' strategy which focused on creating activities to bring people to Newmarket."

Events included fashion shows and a Christmas promotion in which a $10,000 Newmarket "shopping spree" was given away.

The improved sales could also be the result of a general pick-up in retail, Church said.

The arrival of outdoor equipment retailer Kathmandu in the large, multi-level site in Newmarket's Rialto precinct - which had been vacant since teenage outfitter Supre left at the start of the year - would bring an additional boost to Broadway, Church said.

The listed firm said in August it would be shifting into the 1291sq m space in time for Christmas.

Church said 51 new businesses opened in Newmarket during September and October.

Westfield NZ, which owns Newmarket's 277 shopping centre, is planning a $250 million expansion on Broadway - 95 shops will be built.

Church said Station Square - a retail area between Broadway and Newmarket's train station - remained a "last festering sore".

When the Business Herald visited the area in July more than half of the 26 retail sites there were vacant. But "substantial changes" to the square would soon take place, Church said.