Clothing retailer quits town

A central Rotorua clothing store is closing its doors at the end of the week but another is expected to take its place immediately.

The Rotorua branch of Supre - a privately owned and operated business that sells clothes designed and developed in Australia - will shut by the end of the week. The Daily Post understands the lease of the building Supre was in, on the corner of Tutanekai St and Hinemoa St, was due to end and the owners did not want to renew it.

There is a sign hanging up in the window of the store which reads "Closing down sale, 7 days to go", which was not there last week.

It was unknown how many staff would be losing their jobs due to the closure as The Daily Post was unable to obtain comment from Supre's Rotorua store, it's regional manager or s its head office in Australia.

The Daily Post understands staff at the Rotorua retail store were told about the closure the week of July 2 to 8 with the closing date being July 22.

Meanwhile, even though Supre was set to close at the end of the week, Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Roger Gordon said the site was one that would be highly sought after. He believed another clothing store was going to move into the site.

"I had heard however that there was a new tennant moving in there straight away," Mr Gordon said. "I think it's another clothing retailer."

He said the block from the City Focus to Rotorua Central Mall seemed to be a popular area with shoppers walking through the area. "It's a good foot traffic street and therefore the stores in that street are reasonably highly sought after compared to other stores."

He said having a business move into the retail space immediately was a good thing for the central business district.

Meanwhile, last week retailers told The Daily Post business had been rough. MacKenzie Fashions owner Frank Emirali said you only had to walk around the central business district to see how few people there were - and a sad, rising number of empty shops.