Business booming again on city strip
After almost a decade in the doldrums, Broadway Ave is showing signs it’s on the road to recovery, as it shifts from its traditional retail base toward chasing the entertainment and food dollar.
Once the heart of Palmerston North’s shopping scene, the street still features prominently in the memories of many who fondly recall braving the Friday evening crowds of bargain hunters.
But those days are long gone and the economic recession of 2008 and the loss of Farmers to The Plaza in 2010 saw the street’s trade plummet.
But now, a ray of hope has emerged as new figures provided by the Central Economic Development Agency show Broadway was Manawatu’s top retail hotspot in the third quarter of 2016, when its businesses pulled in $7.9 million. That’s 11 per cent up on 2015.
People were being drawn back to the street by the growing number of restaurants, cafes and takeaways, the agency’s chief executive Will Samuel said.
‘‘It’s an encouraging and rewarding sign for Broadway business owners, and one that will be boosted further if the Palmerston North City Council’s plans to revitalise the infrastructure of the street go ahead.’’
The street is also home to The Regent on Broadway and Downtown Cinemas, both of which bring in night-time punters.
Haru Japanese restaurant manager Grace Lee said its owners and management team all moved from Auckland to open Broadway’s newest restaurant in August.
Lee said they’d been surprised at how busy the street was and how quickly the restaurant was taking off.
Business owner John Bachari has traded on Broadway since just before Farmers moved out – first a barber shop and then, for the past 31⁄2 years, Bachari Menswear.
‘‘People love to see Broadway back to being busy again. They love Broadway because there’s a lot of history here.’’
Chada Thai restaurant owner Arunee Srichantra said the lunch crowd had thinned out slightly, and spread across the day, but dinner time was a lot busier.
‘‘There’s more variety and choices in the street now and we can see there’s more.’’
She said improvements made to the street, including the controversial removal of trees, made it cleaner and more attractive to shoppers and diners.
Music Planet manager Jeff Carr said it had been a rough patch for business on the street, but his store managed at least some growth in sales each year, including 10 per cent over the past 12 months. ‘‘It’s been brilliant. The feel of Broadway is changing and I think it’s great having all these restaurants here,’’ he said.
‘‘A lot of people were holding on to when it was a clothing and retail centre, but this is the changing face of Broadway.’’
Council city planning manager David Murphy said the council had put aside $300,000 for the financial year, to help support the Broadway revival in the short term.
The street’s shift toward food and entertainment in the past year was bringing trade back, but it was quite different to how it used to be, Murphy said.
‘‘A lot of spending is happening between 5pm and 12am, which reflects the changing nature of Broadway.’’