Steady service in bustling hub

It has lost its butcher shop and two takeaways but Castlecliff's small shopping centre has its own bustle and rhythms and some new businesses. It's near North Mole and a belt of factories in Heads Rd, distant from the suburb's surf club and almost always breezy.

The collection of businesses in Castlecliff's small shopping hub is mainly centred on feeding the people in the two schools and many factories of the suburb.

There are three takeaways, all selling Chinese food and fish and chips, two bakeries and two grocery stores.

The other specialty of the suburb is low prices, with cheap secondhand tyres at The Tyre Warehouse. Even the GP practice, Castlecliff Healthcare, has lower fees than most.

And Castlecliff Hotel is one of only three old-style drinking holes in Wanganui, according to manager Joe Ryan.

"This is still a working man's hotel, and they're a disappearing breed," he said.

What else is there in that small shopping area?

A large secondhand store run by St Luke's Church in Manuka St, X Street Hair Design, a pharmacy and a service station.

Business is steady, but not spectacular, most of the owners say.

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At Polson St Takeaways, former owner Xian Shen Ru sold two months ago to Zhen Hui Ruan, but is still there to lend a hand at busy times.

Mr Ru left Guangzhou, near Hong Kong and one of China's largest cities, at the age of 20. He has had the store since 1992.

"All my life in just one job: cooking, cooking, cooking," he said.

He had been working long hours, seven days a week, and said his legs and shoulders were tired. He was ready to retire and to let his children in Auckland, London and Wellington look after him.

He learned to cook Chinese food in China, and European fish and chips at the Lucky Cat Fish Supply in Hinau St.

Fish and chips was popular with all ages and affordable, he said.

He buys ingredients from All-Ports Food & Distribution, Wanganui Food Services in Fox Rd, Toops and other places. But he was also getting customers used to an increasing number of Chinese dishes.

He'll cook 16 to 18 Chinese dishes on a busy night, and says people like his good food and competitive prices.

Mr Ruan is no relation but is a keen worker, and moved from Auckland to Wanganui a year ago.

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The public bar of Castlecliff Hotel is still a good place to while away a rainy afternoon.

Manager Joe Ryan said it had a cross section of regulars, from retired people to workers.

"Castlecliff people drink in Castlecliff," he said.

Its lounge bar hosts meetings, weddings and birthday parties, and has 18 pokie machines.

"A lot of people come and stay here for the fishing."

Mr Ryan has managed the hotel for owner Cliff Heath for more than eight years.

"The biggest change is that the hotel has suffered because of the fact that supermarkets supply cheap alcohol. There's no control of the drinking outside of hotels."

He said it was a good pub to run, with a good clientele and no trouble.

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Vivek Bangia said he loved Castlecliff and had bought a property there, and his wife worked as a receptionist at Castlecliff Healthcare.

The couple live in Wanganui East. Mr Bangia has run the catering side of Wanganui's Jockey Club and is also a real estate agent. For the last three years he has owned a Castlecliff grocery business.

He said he hoped Wanganui District Council's buy-back of the port would inject new life into the suburb.

His store is one of 280 under the Four Square brand in New Zealand. The brand is part of the Foodstuffs group, the biggest grocery seller in the country, which also owns the New World and Pak'n Save brands.

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Sri Lankan GP Dr Ponnampalam Saravanapavan has been seeing patients at Castlecliff Healthcare since 2006, and everyone calls him Dr Sara.

He works from the building that was the suburb's post office.

His right-hand person is Jane Dutton, a nurse practitioner-in-training. Indira Bangia is his receptionist and his wife, Jay, runs the practice.

Ms Dutton said it was an interesting practice to be involved in.

"The people are great. It's a real practice with high-needs conditions and chronic conditions. We do whatever we can to minimise the cost and the amount of travel for [patients]."

The practice has about 1300 patients. It's not the only medical practice in the suburb - Te Oranganui also has clinics in the Castlecliff Community Charitable Trust rooms and the area's GP shortage has been further alleviated by nearby Gonville Health.

The most common ailments at Castlecliff Healthcare are high blood pressure, diabetes, skin infections, asthma and other chronic lung diseases - plus accidents from the workplaces of Heads Rd.

Patients were lucky to have Castlecliff Pharmacy within walking distance so they could fill their prescriptions, Ms Dutton said.

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Chinese and European food is sold at China Duan, a takeaway business run by Mei Luo and her husband Bar Duan, both from Guangzhou. The business was enough to support three staff, Mr Duan said.

The couple moved to Wanganui from Auckland, which they said was too busy. They find Castlecliff nice and quiet.

Their shop is open seven days a week.

They had lots of Chinese friends in Wanganui and got together to celebrate occasions such as Chinese New Year, Christmas and Full Moon Day.

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Challenge! Castlecliff is the only petrol outlet in the suburb.

It is owned by the Teki family, who also own the Aotea Motor Lodge and Caltex in Victoria Ave.

Fuel sales at Castlecliff were growing but shop sales were declining under pressure from increased competition, said Alaina Teki-Clark.

The service station has five staff who work the small forecourt one at a time.

There had been two aggravated robberies there recently but Mrs Teki-Clark said petrol sellers in the city experienced more.

Staff have all had training to deal with armed robberies and there is never more than $150 kept in the till.

The pumps are all prepay, to avoid the problem of tanks being filled before card transactions are declined.

Mrs Teki-Clark said Castlecliff people typically bought small amounts of fuel rather than filling their tanks. "The majority of sales are under $10. Only a handful get a fill-up. They consume differently."

At Challenge! service stations the properties and tanks are owned by individuals, with fuel supplied by CRT, through Chevron. The company's contracts with the individual owners all expire at the same time, giving the owners block bargaining power.

It was a business model that Mrs Teki-Clark liked, though she said it did have some risks for owners.

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Wall after wall of new and secondhand tyres line the interior of The Tyre Warehouse, next door to Castlecliff Four Square.

Manager Aaron Rudkin said it was the only place in Wanganui that sold secondhand tyres. They were cheaper and attracted customers from as far away as Raetihi.

"You can get near-new tyres for about half the price, depending on brand and quality of the tyre," he said.

Owner George Love used to have a tyre warehouse in Palmerston North but that had now closed.

The business has most tyre sizes for most vehicles, and also does wheel alignment.

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Castlecliff Bakery is a relatively new business, having opened on September 21.

Owner Kay Tea was born in Cambodia and his wife is Chinese.

The couple and their Cambodian staff member bake bread, pies, cakes and slices and make sandwiches and quiches.

Mr Tea learned to bake during his eight years in Auckland.

He said business at Castlecliff was "not very bad".

He was giving it another six months to a year before he would decide whether to stay.

He works 12-14 hours a day and likes playing snooker when he can get a break.

"People think bakeries are very hard work, but it just depends on you. I like making food. It's just a part of work and my life."

His is not the only bakery in Cross St. Maggies Pies is just a few doors along.

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At Castlecliff Pharmacy you can buy anything from cosmetics to corn pads - but the mainstay of the business is prescriptions.

"Prescriptions is mostly what we do. It's 85 per cent of the income," said pharmacist and owner Litea Katonivere.

She trained at the University of Otago and spent a year at Dunedin, Auckland and Taumarunui pharmacies before managing, and then buying, the Castlecliff one from Clare Ballinger. "I knew nothing about business until I got thrown into this. [Clare] taught me stuff that I needed to know," she said.

Business had been slow for the last two years, which was making her wonder about the pharmacy's viability. She said a lot of others had been struggling, too.

"We try and keep the prices down for the retail side of things."

There were many older people in Castlecliff.

She dispensed a lot of medicine for chronic ailments and got to know many customers by name.