Chain's arrival will boost mall appearance

REBECCA STEVENSON
Napier's inner-city retail precinct will be bolstered with the arrival of a national retail chain as part of a revamp of Ocean Boulevard mall.
Living & Giving homewares store will open on June 25 on the Dickens Street side of Ocean Boulevard.
Ocean Boulevard is being refurbished by new owner National Property Trust (NPT), which expects to spend more than $400,000 on interior construction and "a few hundred grand" on tidying the exterior.
NPT leasing manager John Kitto said the outside would have an art deco relief. He said Living & Giving's move to Napier was evidence of the confidence national businesses had in local economies.
"We know that Napier is a highly desirable retail opportunity."
He said there was a shortage of large format retail space in the central business district and the refurbishment and converting the mall's small retail spaces into large ones would help meet that need.
Ocean Boulevard's makeover ties in with a $2.2 million revamp of lower Dickens Street which began in April. The Napier City Council is upgrading the stormwater and water mains, resealing the road and footpaths and adding kerb extensions and raised bricked walkways.
Extra parking will be added and native trees planted. The project is expected to take seven months.