The Trade Aid store in Palmerston North is shutting its doors in October and products will be sold online.
The Trade Aid store in Palmerston North is shutting its doors in October and products will be sold online.
The Trade Aid store in Palmerston North has been given a stay of execution.
The store was to have closed its doors in June - one of 24 Trade Aid store nationwide to close - with a move to online store trading.
The shelves at the Palmerston North are stillfull of stock, though, and staff continue to turn up to work - two paid part-time staff and a band of 12 rotating volunteers.
Trade Aid’s marketing specialist Brittany Halligan said the Broadway store would stay open for another few months.
“Through ongoing lease negotiations and the incredible mahi of the Palmerston North team, we have managed to extend our store’s closure until October,” she said.
“While this is our current expectation, the timeline is still subject to change as we navigate the complexities of this process.”
Trade Aid had earlier released a media statement saying it had fallen on lean times in the past two years. Diminishing sales had significantly impacted the organisation’s financial performance.
To ensure its ongoing sustainability it had to progressively close its stores and look to shift its business model to online retail sales and wholesale craft, food, and coffee.
Trade Aid Palmerston North store manager Andrew Gore.
Palmerston North store manager Andrew Gore, who had worked there for 21 years, said people were coming into the door every day “sad” to learn the store was closing down.
But he understood it was a market reality. He just hoped the organisation was able to continue to support its overseas producer partners.
“Where we might struggle, there need is so much more still,” he said.
“I’m in a privileged position that I have a couple of other part-time jobs and that will help keep body and soul together.”
Trade Aid said the store and its volunteers had contributed to the fair-trade movement in New Zealand by educating people about the fair-trade practice, and how selling products imported from countries such as Bangladesh, Mexico, India, Vietnam made a difference to people living there.
The organisation wanted to “thank the staff, volunteers, and customers that have supported Trade Aid Palmerston North and the fair-trade movement of Aotearoa”.
The Palmerston North shop, which had been open for 47 years, has discounted items in store as it closes, while stocks last.
