Feedback from retail stores in the city centre, leading up to Christmas, had been a “mixed bag”, Meyerhoff said.
“Some shops are starting to get really busy now and see sales increase but we find that the ones that are increasing are the ones that do a lot of their own promotion, that are very active digitally and have embraced the e-commerce side of their business,” she said.
Rochelle Handley, of Paiges Book Gallery, said the store had been “gratefully” busy.
“We are so lucky because we have got such a beautiful community that wrap themselves around the bookstore - we’ve got really great, loyal friends of the store,” Handley said.
“We have been busy for a good while, it’s been humming - there’s lots of book lovers in Whanganui.”
Helene Hall, of Eightyeight Putiki, said November was busy with customers.
“We had the most ridiculously huge November; it was just phenomenal,” Hall said.
“It feels like it’s buttoned off a bit, which is weird, but we are doing really good.”
The art and gift shop in the heart of Pūtiki will be open daily until Christmas.
“What our customers are loving is that they are coming here and getting something that they haven’t seen everywhere else,” Hall said.
“We’ve got so many things made by locals - like one-off things - so people are loving it because they won’t find it anywhere else in Whanganui.”
Handley said the local book industry was doing well because people wanted to escape their screens.
“When things are tough for people, books become an affordable gift and a lot of people are returning to reading, they are saying, ‘I’m over being on a screen and I want to dive into a great read’,” she said.
People were slowly starting to realise that buying online from overseas book companies was not supporting New Zealand.
“You are not helping create employment here or helping the local economy so some people are starting to think about that, which is really lovely,” Handley said.
Meyerhoff hoped that people would buy Aroha Vouchers instead of Prezzy Cards to encourage local spending.
Aroha Vouchers were created by Mainstreet Whanganui in 2023 to encourage people to shop locally.
“Vouchers get spent often in January, which is an important time for retailers as well,” Meyerhoff said.
The vouchers can be bought at the Whanganui i-Site and are redeemable at nearly 60 Whanganui businesses.
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
