Wellington businesses battle to stay afloat in grim financial times

• Flora Quintana opened a takeaway bar after facing tough times and losing family belongings in a fire.
• About 50 stores have closed between Courtenay Place and Lambton Quay this year.
• Critics say the council’s $1500 microgrant for businesses affected by roadworks is insufficient.

By Ashleigh McCaull of RNZ

While Wellington City Council is looking into a financial package for some areas affected, some critics said it does not go far enough.

Flora Quintana has run Syrian restaurant Damascus for five years and like many restaurant owners around the capital, she is facing tough times.

She also lost most of her family’s belongings in a house fire earlier this year.

Not about to give up, she has opened a takeaway bar to bring in more sales.

“You don’t need as many staff so mainly the high costs that a restaurant has is the staff, is wages. I think that with a takeaway as well, what happens is that you can offer something a bit smaller, kind of like a cheaper price and people I think at the moment are trying to spend less money,” Quintana said.

Other stores around the city are focusing on the online market and some have moved to the suburbs.

About 50 stores have closed between Courtenay Place and Lambton Quay so far this year.

A group of businesses have the green light from the council to close off Courtenay Place for New Year’s Eve.

Hospitality NZ Board member and local bar owner Jeremy Smith said it will be a big night for entertainment in the capital.

“So let’s get people out, let’s entertain them, let’s encourage them to go have an early meal, come and dine, come and spend some money in the street. Then there’s the events down at the waterfront, we’ll then kick into DJs and build up to a show that can end around one o’clock,” Smith said.

Meanwhile, the city council is considering a micro grant of $1500 to businesses suffering from the impact of major roadworks on Thorndon Quay.

But Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said that was not enough.

“$1500 is probably insulting to most businesses, they’re losing more than that every day. Are there some of the plans they’ve got, can they put them on pause or not start them straight away until the economy is in a better space? It’s really thinking about how do we support the whole of the environment,” Young said.

Conor Whitten from Wellington’s Chamber of Commerce agreed, saying the payment needed to extend to other businesses.

“There are lots of road works going on in the city, there’s the Golden Mile redevelopment that’s still to come. It is really important that we get this right before work on the Golden Mile gets underway. Our message to council is to look very closely at what’s going to make a real difference to businesses and it’s important that businesses have a say,” Whitten said.

Anna Calver from the city council said a recent report found the drop in businesses around Thorndon Quay was not all down to road works.

“Where we’ve done those major roading projects, the decline that businesses are seeing on average is in line with the decline in the CBD so on average we’re not seeing larger decline than just the general economic downturn,” Calver said.

Former Mayor Andy Foster said the city has experienced tough times before, and he was optimistic it will bounce back.

He recalled a shift of head offices away from Wellington.

“Through the, I’m going to say 70s and 80s, we lost a lot of those but a lot went to Auckland, a lot were taking over by overseas organisations, so they went to Australia wherever it might be. So Wellington had to reinvent its economy and started to do that in the early 90s,” Foster said.

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