Clothing retailer Lower comes to Rotorua, Arts Village Cafe owners expand, as business confidence grows

At a time when many businesses are closing or questioning their viability, at least one Rotorua eatery has expanded and a popular clothing brand is entering the local market.

The Arts Village Cafe owner and operator Bianca Nieuwboer spent six months growing her cafe before deciding she was ready for a new challenge.

So in February, the 26-year-old businesswoman started looking for properties in the CBD.

"People were worried, they told us not to go into town because of problems with the homeless but we wanted to be in the CBD and the rent was reasonable."

Nieuwboer signed a lease for the Pukuatua St property that housed Be Rude Not To cafe before lockdown and reopened it as Hello Stranger Cafe.

"We liked the property because it had a big kitchen, which we are able to use for out-catering as well as for the cafe.

"There have been some renovations but so far it hasn't been too difficult. We've had a good response since opening and I've been enjoying the customer base we have here.

"You would be surprised how many people are walking around first thing in the morning. I'm confident in our decision to open where we have."

Nieuwboer said being an owner-operator and providing something different to the competition were key factors to being successful when starting out.

Meanwhile, popular streetwear clothing brand Lower will open the doors to its new Rotorua store today.

Operations manager Deon Carpenter said the new store, in the Central Mall, had been in the works well before lockdown.

"We've been operating for nearly 20 years and we've always had strong local support in the Bay of Plenty.

"When our lease ended in Pāpāmoa, we knew we wanted to maintain two stores in the region so we looked to Rotorua."

"We had intended to launch on Easter weekend but then Covid hit, which delayed things. But we made a commitment to the mall and we are excited to open this week."

Carpenter said the local market was promising.

"We have been advertising jobs and have been positively inundated with applicants and people saying they were excited to see us here."

When asked why Lower chose Central Mall over one of the empty stores in the CBD, Carpenter said it was primarily because of foot traffic.

"There is also strength in the clothing precinct in the mall being next to Glassons and Hallensteins."

Rotorua Central Mall general manager Peter Faulkner said he was thrilled to have Lower on board.

"The brand carries resonance in their market and they will be a good complement to Glassons and Hallensteins.

"The younger market in particular is excited Lower is coming to town."

Faulkner said the brand was filling the last vacancy within the main Central Mall complex.

"The general feeling out there is that stores are happy with the level of trading activity."

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard said the chamber had been receiving quite a bit of positive news of late.

"There is more positive news than negative coming from businesses which is amazing and pleasing to hear.

"We have a lot of glass-half-full people in town. There have been two sides to this Covid story. I think it depends on the type of business you're in but also whether you look at the situation and see the downsides or the opportunities.