A comprehensive look at how towns and businesses are responding to a tightening economy, changing consumer expectations and increased competition. This excellent feature was written by Elly Strang from retail industry authority The Register.

1. APRIL / MAY 2016
16
A CHANGE
OF HEART
FEATURE
Over the past year, a concerning number of provincial towns
have reported a proliferation of vacant shops. Elly Strang takes
a look at retail in heartland New Zealand and what can be done
to stop the haemorrhaging of consumer spending.
RT743 16-25 Provincal Retail 3.indd 16 7/04/16 3:26 pm

2. THEREGISTER.CO.NZ
A
s late as 1959, only 54 percent of New
Zealand households had access to a
fridge. People would shop on a ‘need
to buy’ basis, frequenting the local
butcher, greengrocer and corner dairy at their
town centre. Fast forward 57 years to 2016, and
times have changed.
Not only do most households have a fridge,
but they also have access to the internet, where
everything can be bought online – including
meat, surprisingly.
There’s less reason to leave the house, and even
less inclination to pop down to the local shops.
This development is just one factor affecting
retailers in New Zealand’s provincial towns.
DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS
It would be difficult to pinpoint just one reason why
some retailers in provincial towns are struggling.
Instead, the current climate has been shaped
by various factors, including spending attrition,
poor town planning and dwindling rural
population numbers.
Chris Wilkinson, managing director of
consultancy First Retail, says things changed for
provincial towns in the 1990s and early 2000s
when ‘big-box’ stores moved in.
Over this period, Kmart expanded across
New Zealand, The Warehouse began scaling up
to larger outlets and in 2004, Mitre 10 opened its
first Mega store in Hastings.
As the big-box retailers settled into cheaper,
larger sites on the fringes of towns, consumers
started to bypass the high streets and spend
their money at one-stop shops.
Lloyd Budd, director of commercial, retail
and operations for real estate company Bayleys
says town planners succumbed to pressure to let
bulk retailers move away from town centres.
“Doing so erodes the vibrancy of cafes,
smaller retailers and the business community in
these centres to such a degree we are now seeing
some places lose their heart completely.”
Raymond Jujnovich, manager of Jujnovich
Gifts and Souvenirs in Kaitaia, a town whose
population has declined steadily over the
years to just under 5000, says big-box stores
positioned away from the main street have
eroded spending at independent retailers.
“Foot traffic has always been a problem for
Kaitaia – when a big Warehouse comes into town
and they put a new shop in place, that’s 20 shops
in one [for customers]. They get tunnel vision.”
The next blow was the rise of online shopping.
Wilkinson says time-poor consumers are
increasingly splitting their purchasing between
online sites and bricks and mortar stores.
They do their research beforehand and work
out what will save them time before heading out
to shop, he says.
“People’s lifestyles are changing. There’s a
lot more of what we call ‘purposeful’ shopping,
which means the retailers that have strong
online presence surface much higher in
consumers’ search and prioritisation.
“People are sitting at home or at the office
in these provincial areas doing their searching
validation online, which helps them decide
where to go.”
Figures released by research company Roy
Morgan in December show the number of Kiwis
shopping online rose to 49 percent - or 1.8
million people - in the year ending June 2015.
This had increased from 39 percent in 2011.
One reason for this is that those in the
regions live a long drive away from the town
centre, so having something shipped straight to
their door is more convenient.
Wilkinson believes convenience is a higher
priority than price for many consumers.
“It’s that certainty and assurance which is
driving people towards these big boxes and online.”
Recent developments in property and dairying
haven’t helped lessen the load for retailers.
Spending in the regions has been dampened
by slashed dairy payouts, and the outlook for 2016
isn’t promising. Fonterra’s forecasted payout for
milk solids was cut by 25 cents a kilo in March,
guaranteeing a lean winter ahead for farmers.
Infometrics senior economist Benje Patterson
says although this has been a big dampener to areas
reliant on dairying, there are few places in New
Zealand that count on dairying and nothing else.
“Most places do still have a few strings to
their bow. What we’ve seen is other areas have
been picking up and filling that void left by low
dairy prices, like extremely high tourist flows.”
Bayleys’ Budd agrees. He says what’s happening
in dairy isn’t reflected in the whole sector, with
sheep and beef farming, as well as some sectors
of the horticulture industry doing okay.
“I’m not saying the provinces are doing well,
but there are no train wrecks or mass closures
on the main street.”
Still, Patterson says some regions are
struggling, particularly if they are off the tourist
trail and not getting any economic spin-off from
the Auckland boom.
These places include the Buller district on
the South Island’s West Coast, which is in real
trouble due to mining layoffs, he says.
17
Chris Wilkinson
Managing director of consultancy First Retail.
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3. 18 FEATURE
APRIL / MAY 2016
Taking a closer look at provincial New Zealand
WHANGANUI
The retailer: Tracy Hawker, who
owns women’s fashion boutique
Fifty Five and gift store Country
Lane Originals says her businesses
are doing well, but she knows of
retailers hurting at the moment.
“We have a number of empty
stores in the CBD but we also have
a rejuvenation programme being
implemented where empty space
is provided to artists to ensure the
main retail area remains vibrant.”
The expert: First Retail’s Wilkinson
says Whanganui feels like it’s “under
siege”. “We’ve had lots of retailers
contact us from Whanganui wanting
help.” He says the MainStreet
Wanganui organisation has had
some success, but it may need extra
resources from the council as retail
is changing so rapidly and it hasn’t
been able to cope as well.
The council: Chris Heywood from
Whanganui & Partners says there
are empty shops in the CBD, but
not a reduction in retail trade. He
says town centre vacancies have
increased mainly due to changing
in retail spending patterns and the
way people do their shopping.
He says there’s a revitalisation
project underway to help improve
the CBD, as well as another
initiative to have pop-up art shops
in empty stores until landlords find
a permanent tenant.
LEVIN
The retailer: A store owner who
wished to remain anonymous says
town stakeholders were trying to
make the town centre more attractive
by adding stone walls and gardens
into areas. They wanted to see their
city being promoted more to residents
of large cities like Wellington as a
great place to move to or visit.
The expert: One of the challenges
is many towns like Levin have
economic development advisers that
don’t necessarily understand retail,
Wilkinson says. “Levin’s an area that
has so much potential, but there’s a
bypass coming that will take traffic
away from the town centre in the
next five to six years, so Levin needs
to be really strategic and leverage
some of its gems, like Swazi or RJ’s
licorice.” He says Levin also needs
to find some personality and the
“essence” of its town.
The economist: Infometrics’
Patterson says Levin’s economy has
been growing at a moderate rate,
about in line with the broader New
Zealand economy.
WESTPORT
The retailer: Westport has been hit
hard by mine closures, but the local
council has been very supportive,
says Westport retailer and founder
of Shop West Coast, Rachelle
Hicks. In particular, the council is
pushing the Government to fund
a 56km road linking Westport
with Nelson via the northern
part of the West Coast and the
Kahurangi National Park. “This is
so important for us in Westport
as at the moment we only capture
approximately 11 percent of the
tourism market on the entire West
Coast.” Hicks says the new road
would create many opportunities
for Westport and the small towns
north of it. “I want this positive
energy that we have to continue
and I want it to be a catalyst to
improve business here.”
The expert: The redundancies in
Westport are a setback for the
town, Wilkinson says, but it has
a vision and the retailers there
are passionate to make it work,
so there are definitely solutions.
Its biggest challenges are its
remoteness and small population
base, he says. “What we would look
to achieve in Westport is probably
New Zealand’s most customer
centric retail community.”
Two retailers NZRetail Magazine spoke to
in Westport, Buller, said many people who
have lost their jobs have left the area and that’s
impacting on foot traffic.
Another recent issue that’s surfaced is
the seismic strengthening requirements for
older buildings.
Following Christchurch’s devastating
earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, the Government
amended its policy for earthquake-prone
buildings in 2013 and again in 2015.
The amendments ruled that strengthening or
demolishing of earthquake-prone buildings needed
to be carried out within 15 years in high-risk areas.
Towns such as Gisborne, Blenheim, Napier
and Hastings are among the areas considered to
be high-risk zones for earthquakes.
But earthquake strengthening is expensive,
and Wilkinson says rather than fork out large
sums to bring fragile buildings up to scratch,
some businesses have simply abandoned them,
affecting the look and feel of town centres.
In other towns, building owners have
stopped investing, causing dilapidation.
This, combined with flattening or declining
populations, is creating a challenging
environment for provincial retailers to operate in.
SCRATCHING THE SURFACE
Some experts believe a common mistake being
made in provincial towns is focusing too much
on appearance. The look and feel of a town is
undoubtedly an important factor when it comes
Whanganui
By Michal Klajban (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Levin
By User: Bgabel at wikivoyage shared, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22686129
RT743 16-25 Provincal Retail 3.indd 18 7/04/16 3:26 pm

4. THEREGISTER.CO.NZ
19
The economist: A sharp downtown
in mining in the area has meant the
Buller district is facing a recession,
Patterson says. However, he says
businesses further down the West
Coast that have been exposed to
tourism have seen an uplift in activity.
KAITAIA
The retailer: Raymond Jujnovich,
manager of Jujnovich Gifts and
Souvenirs in Kaitaia says the boom
in Auckland is largely not impacting
on rural New Zealand and the town is
suffering because of it. Foot traffic is
low, there’s no longer a Vodafone or
Spark shop in the town, and the local
bus company sold out, so tourists
that used to come to the town to
catch a bus to Cape Reinga now
catch one from the Bay of Islands.
The expert: Wilkinson says smaller
places like Kaitaia have had some
real challenges, as it’s hard to get
the critical mass of people needed
to keep the town afloat.
The economist: Patterson says
although individual retailers in
Kaitaia may be struggling, across
the Far North district as a whole,
general economic activity has picked
up reasonably strongly. Numbers
from Marketview show in the year to
December 2015, retail spending was
up 3.4 percent from a year earlier.
BLENHEIM
The retailer: Tim Thomas of
Thomas’s Department Store says
while the number of vacant shops
has increased, Paymark statistics
for spending in Marlborough are
very encouraging. “The last six
months’ trading has been very
positive; we’ve really seen an
improvement. We’re seeing a lot
more tourists coming into the
region, domestic and international,
off the back of the wine industry
getting back on its feet and doing
really well.” He says the last five
years have been tough and there
have been casualties, especially
with independent stores, but the
future is looking promising.
The expert: “You’ve got some very
proactive retailers who want things to
happen but there’s a lethargy amongst
a number of them,” Wilkinson says.
The Business Improvement District
structure the town’s employing may
not be able to move as quickly to the
changing pace of retail, he says.
The property expert: Bayleys’ Budd
says Blenheim is suffering from poor
town planning, as a bulk retail park has
been built by the airport and on the
outskirts of town. As a result, the city
centre’s business has been impacted.
The economist: Patterson says the
Marlborough district has had some
good growth as of late, and people
there are very optimistic about
their wine sector at the moment.
“It’s also benefited form the uplift in
international visitors to New Zealand
and we’ve seen that come through in
the regional tourism indicators.”
to spending - a desolate, abandoned-looking
main street can send travellers and potential
investors scarpering, while locals travel out of
town to spend their dollars.
But Karen Remetis, principal of Waikato-
based strategic planning company Town Centre
Development Group, says it’s important not to
get caught up in the superficial.
Though people might not consciously
realise it, the town centre is a reflection of the
economic health of the wider area, she says.
What happens often is the focus for improving
a small town is the urban design, when really, this
won’t have much of an effect on the foot traffic.
“When a town is struggling and people
put in new footpaths and beautify it, it’s
going to make it look good but not going to
fundamentally change how the town is going
to thrive,” Remetis says. “Sure, those things
are important, but for me they’re not the most
important. The most important to me is how are
we going to get this economy to work?”
Another commonly-used strategy for
tackling high streets suffering from too many
unattractive vacant shop fronts is to hold art
exhibitions within the empty stores.
First Retail’s Wilkinson is critical of
such strategies, calling it “embalming”. “It’s
embalming a body rather than resuscitating
the patient.”
Remetis says when it comes to a town
branding itself, it should be around what’s local,
what’s real and what’s important.
Westport
By Prankster - Own work, CC0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22434820
Blenheim
By CHCBOY (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Kaitaia
By Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand [CC BY 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
RT743 16-25 Provincal Retail 3.indd 19 7/04/16 3:26 pm

5. 20
APRIL / MAY 2016
FEATURE
Provincial retailers share the
biggest issues they 're facing
"Gst/offshore buying. Farmers
fluctuating income.
Competition from bigger
stores/nearby cities. Locally
the population has a high
average age, many rely on
super and benefits. Requires
careful stock control to ensure
it meets local ‘conditions’.
Need right attitude in staff to
encourage local shopping."
"Not enough income in the
local area. Too many
beneficiaries and retired
people. Online shopping
undercutting retailers."
"The Warehouse,
Supermarkets, Mitre 10 etc
diversifying by selling
specialty products."
"Big-box retail, online shopping,
staff – sick leave, pay rises etc,
business costs.
Reducing employment causing
population to move away and
other retailers diversifying to
increase their product range
overlapping with areas I
specialise in. A bit is also the loss
to the internet and the larger
towns, this has always happened
and will continue. We have
retained the customers that
require the service and backup."
"The large numbers of families
the are leaving our town of
Westport with the downturn in
mining and the closure of
Holcim Cement in June. Even
worse than that families are
splitting up as the husband
goes away to work and mum
and kids stay behind in the
house that has too big a
mortgage to leave and with a lot
of properties for sale and rent
they have no option. This
means foot traffic on the street
is halved and times are so
stressed there is no money to
spare anyway. The
centralisation of government
departments and large
companies takes a lot away
from provincial towns.
Provincial retailers become
more isolated from the vibe of
cities, this could be an
advantage if we make it one as
small, independent stores have
culture and vibe of their own
which could be promoted more."
"Towns that are within two
hours drive from a larger town/
city have to actively promote
themselves to capture the local
shoppers without them
jumping in their cars and going
to the city to do their shopping.
There can also be a feeling of
isolation for retailers in smaller
towns and this can have a big
effect on the message they put
across in their business.
"It can be really tough when
large chain stores e.g. The
Warehouse move into smaller
towns as how do the small guys
compete with their marketing
and low prices? Just not
enough people on the street
really, sometimes you can do
your best marketing and have
fabulous product but if there
are hardly any people walking
past your door there is not
much chance of making those
much needed sales."
She says often, what the town chooses to
focus on marketing-wise doesn’t have any
substance underneath.
“It’s no use having a big carrot or a big banana,
there’s got to be something that is relevant. Even
if it’s the sheer beauty of the town, an original
town, that’s what visitors and tourists want.”
STOPPING THE EROSION
The experts say there is no one-size-fits-all
solution, as every town has different strengths
and weaknesses to the next.
Instead, they say it’s vital that regional
towns and cities have an action plan that’s put
together by an outside facilitator who has no
qualms about calling it like they see it.
“It’s like saying you’ve got to go to the dentist
– basically, it’s got to be done,” Remetis says.
Wilkinson says a retail-specific strategy
should be tailored specifically to the town, so all
of the factors at play are captured within it.
“Where councils go wrong is when they try to
pick off one thing, like parking. That’s the only
one part of the equation.”
He says the key opportunities and risks
need to be addressed, then a plan needs to
be made about how to develop resilience and
achieve growth.
Towns getting the retail mix right is also
important, says Tim Thomas, co-owner of
Blenheim-based Thomas’s Department Store.
“We’re seeing new stores that open generally
are chain stores. It’s important to get the mix of
independents as well as chains. As soon as you
get more chain stores, the variety for shoppers
starts to wane.”
Wilkinson says some councils might say
there’s nothing they can do about the retail mix,
but the reality is they can have an input.
“You can’t dictate the mix, but you can be a key
influencer in how a town evolves - but it relies on
you understanding what consumers want.”
Bayleys’ Budd says in terms of the mix, bulk
retail shouldn’t be allowed to be positioned on
the outskirts of towns, as this drives foot traffic
out of the centre.
“Instead, position these big-box retailers on
corners behind the heart of a centre so they can
support and feed the heart.
“Some of the best examples of towns doing
this well are Cambridge and Kerikeri.”
If a business is really struggling to cope with
these changes, Remetis says they should accept
they need an exit strategy.
“With the changes of where New Zealand is
going, some businesses do need to say, ‘We have
done well for 20 years but we accept the town
and the economy is changing now and we need
to look at doing something else.’”
ADAPTING TO CHANGE
Wider town solutions aside, there are several
ways provincial retailers can encourage more
foot traffic to their stores.
Thomas says his store has survived 103 years
in retail because it has adapted to change.
“Sometimes what can happen with retail
stores in the regions is they don’t change their
product offerings and they don’t look at adding
new things to the business, which is something
we’ve always done.”
In November, it opened a in-store café to
make itself more of a destination for shoppers.
“What it’s done is helped to draw people into
the store and is another means to engaging with
customers,” Thomas says. “You might come into
a clothing store once a season to buy a shirt, but
you’ll come in every day to buy a coffee.”
Another way to draw customers back into the
store is through a customer loyalty programme.
It’s no use having a big
carrot or a big banana,
there’s got to be
something that is relevant.
Even if it’s the sheer
beauty of the town, an
original town, that’s what
visitors and tourists want.
Karen Remetis
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6. 21
THEREGISTER.CO.NZ
Chanelle Purser, owner of Gore-based
clothing store Carvin Streetwear, says when she
noticed customers weren’t shopping locally as
often, she created a programme that offered
customers great perks for spending their dollars
with her store.
The programme also created a channel for
her to connect with customers on, where she
could ask “Is this what you’re after?”
It worked, and Purser stays customer-focused
and constantly asks for feedback on stock.
It also helps to pay attention to the economic
climate of the town, she says, which is something
customers may not be so open about.
When things became tougher locally because
of the dairy payouts, Purser began looking for
clothing labels at different price points and
found a mid-range that would suit people’s
pockets better.
Another way to engage customers is when
retailers run an event or campaign that
emphasises why their stores are unique and
worth shopping at.
Melissa Williams, founder of Kilt clothing,
says her label started a month-long event called
New Zealand Made March to encourage people
to shop locally.
The month encourages people to shop with both
Kilt and with other New Zealand made brands.
“We have seen people really get on board with
it and get excited about it. If you’ve got the option
of China made and New Zealand made and they’re
a similar price, most people would pick locally
made. It’s keeping people in jobs, and there are a
lot of feel good factors about it,” Williams says.
Hastings
By JSvideos.
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
While there’s no silver bullet for the problems
facing provincial retailers, a common thread
connecting the successful shops is putting an
emphasis on community. Small towns will never
pull the same crowds as the likes of Wellington,
Auckland and Christchurch, but this can be seen
as a strength, not a weakness.
The smaller customer base means provincial
retailers can get to know the intimate communities
they operate within and provide better personali-
sation than their urban city counterparts.
Owner of Hasting-based the Little Red
Bookshop, Siobhan McCormack, says the less
frantic pace of the regions allows retailers to
familiarise themselves with their customers more.
“Here in the provinces we have a slower pace
and more time, it allows us to interact with our
customers, to chat, to get to know them. Locals
and visitors alike appreciate that, and they will
return, and they do recommend us to others.”
Carvin Streetwear’s Purser says getting out
and being a part of the community is the best
advertising you can do for your store.
“I think being visibly part of the community
helps, especially in rural communities, as people
really like seeing that you’re helping their causes,
sponsoring things or donating your time.”
This sense of community can be taken to
the next level through creating an organisation
for retailers in the town to promote themselves
to locals. One example of this is Shop West
Coast, an initiative on the South Island’s upper
West Coast, set up to promote businesses in the
area and shopping locally.
Shop West Coast sells loyalty rewards
cards to shoppers, who get discounts with
member retailers.
Westport retailer Rachelle Hicks, who
founded Shop West Coast, says customers love
the idea, with over 1000 cards sold so far.
Fostering a sense of community is key to
retail surviving in the provinces, she says.
“People who live in small towns enjoy a
feeling of belonging. The love the fact that they
know shop staff by name and we know and
remember them.”
Rather than competing against one another,
she says collaboration between retailers is
essential for success.
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7. Mapping the money
Auckland is undoubtedly New Zealand’s
centre of commerce, but outside the
super city, retail sales are more evenly
distributed. Here’s New Zealand’s actual
retail sales values shown by geographic
location, in billions.
TOTAL SOUTH ISLAND
2012 17.4
2013 18.1
2014 19
2015 19.7
TOTAL NEW ZEALAND
2012 70.1
2013 72.8
2014 75.6
2015 76.3
TOTAL NORTH ISLAND
2012 52.7
2013 54.7
2014 56.6
2015 56.6
REST OF SOUTH ISLAND
2012 7.9
2013 8.1
2014 8.3
2015 8.3
REST OF NORTH ISLAND
2012 14.2
2013 14.8
2014 15
2015 12.3
RAW FIGURES SOURCED FROM STATISTICS NZ. NUMBERS ARE APPROXIMATE.
AUCKLAND
2012 23.8
2013 25
2014 26.7
2015 28.8
WAIKATO
2012 7.2
2013 7.3
2014 7.3
2015 7.7
WELLINGTON
2012 7.5
2013 7.6
2014 7.6
2015 7.8
CANTERBURY
2012 9.5
2013 10
2014 10.7
2015 11.4
FEATURE22
APRIL / MAY 2016
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8. 23
THEREGISTER.CO.NZ
The tourist trap
There may also be an untapped opportunity
for smaller towns to bring in some business
through domestic and international tourism.
While the dairy industry has waned in
the last year, tourism has been hailed by
economists as a “bright spot” in the economy.
Tourism unofficially overtook dairy as the
number one export earner in New Zealand in
2015, raking in $30 billion a year.
Tourism Industry Association New Zealand
(TIA) chief executive Chris Roberts says retail
sales play a big part in this figure, with retail
spending making up over 40 percent of the
$18 billion domestic tourist spend and almost
30 percent of the $12 billion international
visitor spend.
As part of its plan to reach a revenue of $41
billion in 2025, the TIA is looking at ways to
encourage more “regional dispersal” for travellers.
Roberts says they want to encourage both
domestic and international visitors off the
beaten track onto lesser known tourism routes,
such as provincial towns, because it will help
the country cater for more visitors.
“We will have problems going forward if we
have visitors go to just a handful of locations
and coming at the same time of year.”
He says towns looking to attract more
tourists need to be very clear about their
proposition to visitors.
“That may be their natural attractions, it may
be their man-made attractions, it may be (and
frequently is) an event that is on at a particular time
– events are a very big driver of domestic tourism.
It can be the retail offering. That’s an area that’s
underrepresented in New Zealand – the opportunity
for people to travel for a retail experience.”
He recommends that businesses should talk
to their local regional tourism organisations
to understand who they should promote the
region to, as well as what feedback there’s been
about services missing in the local market.
“It comes down to simple things like visitors
saying they couldn’t get a local restaurant
serving meals past eight o’clock.”
However, if tourism is going to grow in a town,
areas like infrastructure need to be addressed to
accommodate more people, he says.
This includes roads in and out of the town,
waste systems and public toilets.
He says a national conversation has begun
about what assistance and funding can be
provided to places that have a small number of
local residents, but high visitor rates.
Overall, he says visitors should be on the
minds of retailers, as they make up a big part of
their customer base.
“Every retailer should at least be aware that
their customers can just as easily be from out of
town as they are from down the road.”
“When small businesses stand together, talk
to each other and work alongside each other it
makes them stronger and gives them a more
effective presence.”
The benefits of building a retail community
include not only creating strength in numbers,
but raising group morale.
First Retail’s Wilkinson says it’s important
provincial retailers find and share camaraderie
with other business owners.
“At the moment, many store owners feel like
the sky’s falling in or it’s groundhog day. But
when you’ve got businesses working together
or participating in mentorship programmes,
where experienced retailers or property owners
provide free advice and support, town centres
truly come together.”
Perhaps most importantly of all, the social
impact of struggling retailers in provincial
towns is bigger than the retail industry itself.
No town centre means communities
can break down and lose their “heart”, with
people no longer having a central hub to
interact within.
Retailers shouldn’t shoulder the sole
responsibility for this, but they can make their
significance to the town well known to local
shoppers and town stakeholders.
With this in mind, Remetis says each town
and its retailers must figure out how to fight back.
“I know how hard it is, but they must
get political and they must get strong.
Organisationally, functionally strong.”
Individual percentages may not
sum to 100 due to rounding.
Product totals exclude GST.
Tourism spend by product
RETAIL SALES 35%
EDUCATION SERVICES 2%PASSENGER TRANSPORT 28%
ACCOMMODATION, AND FOOD AND
BEVERAGE SERVING SERVICES 21%
OTHER TOURISM PRODUCTS
AND SERVICES 14%
Source: Statistics New Zealand
RT743 16-25 Provincal Retail 3.indd 23 7/04/16 3:26 pm

9. 24 FEATURE
APRIL / MAY 2016
Advice to retailers,
from retailers
Be unique, really look after your customers and go
an extra mile for them to get what they want. There
are many successful retailers in most provincial
towns and they will all be unique to their community
and provide great service. Treat people as you
would like to be treated in a similar store.
Kim Pittar
OWNER OF MUIRS BOOKSHOP IN GISBORNE
Recognise the problem is not going to go away
and seek some advice, soon. It’s only to get more
of a challenge. I’ve been a part of retail groups for
a long time and have found it really hard work
trying to get retailers to work together, but just
having that outside input to be the catalyst made
all the difference.
Tracy Hicks
GORE MAYOR AND FORMER RETAILER
Make sure you’ve got a unique point of difference
to other stores and then stick to your theme. Don’t
try and be that store down the road - be the best
at your store. And work harder and work smarter.
Keep your marketing plan simple and
uncomplicated - if we have something we want our
customers to know we tell them immediately using
SMS, e.g. “Augustines summer range has just
arrived in-store at Fifty Five.” We use www.ezitxt.
com. It’s brilliant.
Tracy Hawker
OWNER OF FIFTY FIVE AND COUNTRY LANE ORIGINALS
IN WHANGANUI
In the end, it’s all about creating and fostering a
narrative and a history around your business and
your town, something that will resonate with people
who like to feel, maybe now more than ever, that
they are part of something real and tangible.
Siobhan McCormack
OWNER OF THE LITTLE RED BOOKSHOP IN HASTINGS
I think if you’re selling something you’re really
passionate about and you offer great service, you’ll
do really well. We’re passionate about making
women feel great about themselves; that’s what fed
through to kilties [kilt-wearers] in our boutiques.
Melissa Williams
KILT FOUNDER
Steps for
those that are
struggling
1 Find strength in
numbers. Band together
with other retailers and
businesses in the area
to create a community
where you can share
advice and ideas.
2 Create a platform that
you can engage with
customers on and get
feedback on what’s
working and what’s not,
be it your store’s social
media page, a loyalty
programme, or an in-
store feedback form.
3 See if there’s a retailer,
retired or active, who’d be
willing to be a mentor.
4 Contact a retail
consultancy and ask
for advice.
5 Talk to the local council
about what options there
are; take examples of
other New Zealand towns
in hand to show there are
solutions out there. See our
case study on Gore below.
GORE: THE LITTLE TOWN THAT COULD
Around 13,000 people live in the town of Gore, nestled right
at the at the bottom of the South Island. Famous for its trout
fish monument, the town has long serviced the needs of the
surrounding rural district and has traditionally had a strong CBD.
However, around two years ago, some troubling signs
started appearing. For one, courier vans were doubling in size
to accommodate all of the online shopping parcels.
Another warning sign was when Postie+ decided to shut
up shop, as did a few other retailers.
Gore Mayor Tracy Hicks says the state of the town centre
wasn’t dire by any stretch of the imagination, but it was
enough to be a catalyst for change.
“I didn’t want to take the risk of waiting and seeing what
would happen. I thought, ‘we need to be doing something here.’”
Hicks’ family has a background in retail, while Hicks
himself used to be a manager at The Warehouse.
He says the knowledge he’d gleaned in retail probably
made him more aware of the risk of inaction than others.
“Particularly in rural communities, councils have
been focused on the traditional basics of operation – very
infrastructure focused. Now with trends going the way
they’re going, we’ve got to shift and become much more
connected to how the community is shaping and we’ve got a
role as council in that place-shaping arena.”
Hicks approached retail consultancy First Retail Group
and the company put together a proposal to the council.
The council went for it, so First Retail put together an
action plan to re-engage the community. Managing director
Chris Wilkinson says they realised for many consumers, the
town’s retail centre had lost its relevance. They were instead
choosing to shop outside of Gore, either online or out of town.
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10. 25
THEREGISTER.CO.NZ
First Retail developed the GoRetail initiative,
which included solutions retailers could quickly
run with, as well as some medium and longer-
term objectives.
One of the quick strategies was helping
retailers realign their shop hours with consumer
expectations, as Wilkinson says people’s lifestyles
had changed and the hours weren’t mirroring it.
The next step was to spread the word and
get the community back on board with
shopping locally.
Wilkinson says they went back to consumers
through the media and were very humble about it.
“We took on the message of, ‘We’ve been
listening to what you said, we’ve made the
changes you’ve asked for and we respectfully
want your business back again. We want you
to make Gore your first choice when it comes
to shopping and we’re going to prove that we
can deliver’.”
Retailers and the council decided shops were
best left closed on Sundays to make the day
about sports, families and friends, except in the
lead up to Christmas.
Meanwhile, ecommerce company Storbie
built an online marketplace, so local retailers
could list their products and consumers were
able shop locally 24/7, preventing further drift.
Both Hicks and Wilkinson say the
community response to GoRetail has been great,
with a big uplift in foot traffic and the spirits of
business owners.
By most reports, Gore also had a good
Christmas in terms of sales.
“We all had a great Christmas compared to
what it could’ve been,” Carvin Streetwear owner
Chanelle Purser says.
“If we hadn’t been proactive and had GoRetail,
I think our Christmas would’ve been really sad.”
Not only have shoppers’ attitudes changed,
but so have retailers.
Hicks says the cooperation and team-like
mentality between them is unlike anything he’s
seen before.
“Traditionally retailers are individual in the
way they approach advertising and marketing.
Now, there seems to be a major shift to let’s do
this as a community of retailers rather than
individuals, and that the opposition is not the
person next door, but the person on the other
side of the world.”
Purser agrees and says there’s more a sense
of retailers looking out for one another.
The retail community has meetings about once
a month where they share ideas and support one
another, and Purser helps to mentor any business
owners that need a hand up.
She says she can’t rave about the GoRetail
initiative enough.
“It’s created a really cool buzz about town, even
right down to people standing chatting on the
street catching up with someone they hadn’t seen
in ages. They’d stand chatting on the street for half
an hour because usually they would’ve gone to the
city and wouldn’t have seen each other.”
“At the end of our day our mayor was the
instigator of this and I don’t know if many
other rural towns would have a mayor that’s so
forward thinking.”
Hicks says there’s a fantastic groups of retailers
in Gore who are really keen to develop and grow.
“Retail has changed forever, and we just need to
get our heads around what the new dynamic is.”
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