An aerial shot of Kmart Hastings on opening day, November 15, 1992. Photo / Supplied.
Thirty years ago, a man by the name of John Boscawen built Hawke’s Bay’s first Kmart store, despite being insolvent at the time. Trent Doyle spoke to him about how his bravado changed the city’s retail centre forever.
John Boscawen wasn’t a politician yet, but he played the game of Hastings central city politics well.
It was 1992 and Napier and Hastings were in an intense battle to secure one of the first Kmarts in New Zealand.
And Boscawen was able to convince Hastings to let him do it with no money.
The former ACT member of parliament (2008-11) and retired company director was insolvent after the 1987 share market crash wiped out his investments.
As the sole developer of Kmart Hastings - which ended up being the third to be built in Aotearoa - Boscawen said it was a struggle.
“I didn’t have much money; in fact I had no money. I was hoping to bring in outside investors alongside my firm,” Boscawen admitted.
This week marks 30 years since the big-box retailer set up in the shopping centre now known as Bay Plaza.
Boscawen signed the contracts in April 1992, and it opened six months later on November 15.
“Thirty years ago The Warehouse was still in its infancy. Then you had this big new department store from Australia called Kmart, with the first store opening in Henderson, Auckland,” Boscawen said.
He retained 100 per cent ownership of Kmart Hastings until 2002, but hasn’t been involved in property development since 2003.
“It was very profitable for me,” he said.
“I retired at 35, travelled the world, supported charities,”.
He also did volunteer work for the ACT Party after selling the property, his entry into politics.
The fully debt-funded construction costs totalled $5.5 million in 1992 - about $10.5 million in today’s dollars.
Woodland Construction built the store during winter, and so “the concrete took a long time to dry”, he said.
Debt was serviced by rent collected from long-term tenants like Kmart and the 3 Guys supermarket, who signed 24-year leases.
“Specialty shops sign shorter leases and weren’t as financially strong as Kmart.”
Boscawen said this week that Napier and Hastings were at war at the time.
“Both Napier and Hastings were vying for that tenancy. There was absolute competition.”
Kmart called Boscawen in December 1991 to say they would be heading to Napier instead.
“I was going to pay in cash but I struggled getting finance.”
Former Napier mayor Alan Dick wanted to secure a Kmart for Napier on former railway land, but small businesses weren’t so keen.
Then former Hastings mayor Jeremy Dwyer stepped in to support Boscawen with a second mortgage on the Hastings block in early 1992.
“The mayor was prepared to put his reputation on the line to make it happen.”
Hastings District Council ‘stopped’ the road at Karamu Rd and St Aubyn St, then sold the land to Boscawen.
The council also sold Boscawen the other half of the block - a former bus depot.
He subsequently got a loan for the build from Countrywide Bank, and paid back all the debt using rental income from his properties.
“They got handsome interest too.”
Councillor Kevin Watkins says Dwyer “moved mountains” to get Kmart on to that site.
“He worked day and night.”
Watkins says the public was excited about a big new retailer coming to town.
“It was going to be open seven days a week. There was going to be a whole new range of goods and a great big carpark. It pulled customers from Napier.”
But there were downsides.
“It did affect some well-established businesses in the [Hastings] CBD, and we lost those.”
The proposed Hastings site was much bigger than the Napier site.
Australian company Coles Myer, the parent of Kmart, already owned land in Hastings for a potential store.
Boscawen secured a loan to build the Kmart from Hastings District Council, ending up with “100 per cent of the shopping centre”.
That won Kmart over.
“They would have had to lease land in Napier, rather than developing the Hastings site they already owned.”
It then took another 29 years for Kmart to open a Napier store.
Kmart was a relatively new arrival in Aotearoa, and many local small businesses were wary of big box stores taking over.
“Local retailers didn’t want a large shopping complex. There was concern among Hastings retailers that it would kill the businesses on Heretaunga St,” Boscawen said.
The council decided to block the development of a large-scale shopping mall, opting to instead keep specialty and boutique shops on Heretaunga St.
Chain stores like Noel Leeming and Briscoes were around back then too, but weren’t as big as today.
Boscawen said there were now a lot more big-box stores three decades on but they weren’t clustered together.
He admits that smaller, specialty retailers are increasingly a “dying breed”.
“You go to a big site [like Kmart], parking is free, there’s a big selection of stuff.”
Lucinda Perry, general manager at the Hastings City Business Association, says its members are now more concerned about parking than the big box retailers.
“Big-box retail in the CBD is favoured by local businesses to drive further foot traffic, encouraging locals and tourists to experience all that Hastings has to offer,” she said.
In July this year, Hastings District Council introduced free parking for one month on Heretaunga St and the CBD to encourage more foot traffic.
Perry argues more time was needed to gauge the success of free parking, however it “received a lot of positive feedback” from businesses and customers.
“But [our members are] aware it’s very much on the council’s radar,” said Perry.