Retailers unsure if upgrade helps business

Supermarkets, camping grounds and in particular the hospitality sector in Napier would have been the big winners during Rugby World Cup but one group that did not benefit was the Hastings city's retail strip.

Hastings District Council recently heard its city CBD was not extraordinarily busy during the international tournament as some may have expected.

Councillor Sandra Hazelhurst, who is also on the Hastings City Business Association, made the point when the council was debating the upgrade of the Heretaunga St West 200-block.

"Hastings did not benefit from the Rugby World Cup retail spend ... we have been exceptionally quiet over the winter. We had the 300-block done and now retailers want to know where you [the council] are in terms of the 200-block," she said.

Retailers operating on the 200-block bounded by Russell St and King St, told Hawke's Bay Today they were split on the merits of the street upgrade and the Rugby World Cup benefits.

Kay Pipe from Griffiths Footwear said she could not see how an upgraded road would generate more business or benefit her shop.

"They want to widen the footpath but I can't see the point of it. Retailers I've spoken to aren't in favour of it. It's not going to help with three months worth of roadworks outside the door either," she said.

Ms Pipe said she had not expected a big influx of customers during the Rugby World Cup. "This isn't a tourist shop so unless you're looking for new footwear, you probably wouldn't come in here. However we had a few tourists come in and say they'd like to buy something but they had spent all of their money on World Cup tickets."

John Simons from New Zealand Souvenir Specialists said he was all for the street upgrade outside his shop as long as "they [council] don't take away any carparks".

"We've seen the plans and it looks like we might lose about 5 carparks to make the road wider."

The World Cup had been good for his bushiness with extra numbers of people coming through the doors. "We sold a lot of possum merino [clothing] because a lot of the people who came here didn't realise how cold it was, especially with the [World Cup] games being held at night," Mr Simons said. "We also sold a lot of flags, mainly New Zealand ones that you can put on your car, as well as general memorabilia they can take home."