Merepeka Raukawa-Tait: Shop pride starts at the front door

A dirty shopfront can be bad for business, writes Merepeka Raukawa-Tait.

OPINION

For me, with some things, first impressions count.

Great chefs are known for saying people eat with their eyes as well as their mouths. That’s why most chefs spend time on their meal presentation, plating up.

Their cooking skills are important but they know looks, too, matter. You start to salivate even before tasting the first morsel of food.

I look at shop frontages too, because they create a first impression, but I’m not sure if some business owners know this or even care.

I take note of how a shop looks on the outside before I walk in. And not just cafes and restaurants, these I always pay special attention to.

I like to think that the business owner considers the look of the business from the outside to be just as important as the interior.

I won’t go into a restaurant if the exterior and entrance look dirty and untidy. I always think an unclean exterior may translate into an unclean kitchen.

I don’t want to think about that. Surely it takes only a few minutes every day to keep a shop entrance looking tidy and clean.

I walked past a small supermarket in a shopping precinct recently.

The narrow road in front of the shop had limited car parking but there was space behind the shop for probably 12 cars to park.

This wasn’t your usual monstrous supermarket.

What stopped me in my tracks was the vibrant entrance with both doors wide open. You could see from the street a colourful display of fruit and vegetables that greeted shoppers as they walked in.

They were displayed to catch the eye. They could draw you into the shop to buy, breaking your rule of shopping only when you have your list with you.

Recently on my daily walks about the city, I see how dirty many of the shop frontages are.

With the vacant shops, I guess that’s understandable. Some owners probably don’t check regularly and will not be aware of the paper and other rubbish strewn around the front doors.

They don’t think anyone would notice or care if the shop frontage isn’t dirt-free.

But I can’t understand the owners of businesses who appear to be oblivious to the dirty appearance of their shop frontage.

What do they see when they walk in the front door? Eyes wide shut!

Perhaps they think the rain does a good enough job of cleaning the dirt and grime off their windows. It does not. It looks as if many windows haven’t been cleaned for years. They look grimy and dirty.

Perhaps first impressions don’t matter much to the business owner.

I know many businesses are struggling to find staff. Some owners themselves are often having to take on more and more tasks so they can continue to provide services. But I don’t think you can underestimate the impact of a clean and tidy shop exterior.

Yes, it’s another job the owners don’t need and perhaps it’s not a priority right now.

If I weren’t walking most mornings, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the large numbers of filthy shop exteriors either.

An exterior doesn’t have to be new or freshly painted. But a shabby, unkempt exterior is just that and it’s off-putting. If the owner doesn’t care, then to me that’s indicative of the service I could receive.

My shopping experience starts as I approach the shop entrance. What’s so hard about “spray and walk away”? Better that than having customers “see and turn away”.

– Merepeka Raukawa-Tait has worked in the private, public and non-profit sectors. Today she writes, broadcasts and is a regular social issues commentator on TV. Of Te Arawa, Merepeka believes fearless advocacy for equity and equality has the potential to change lives.