Paper Plus open for business following fire
Two-and-a-half weeks after a fire ripped through their neighbouring business, Blenheim’s Paper Plus is back open for service.
The Paper Plus was out of action following a late-night fire at the CBD Cafe, as electricity and Chorus internet lines connected to the building were damaged in the blaze.
Paper Plus Blenheim owner Karen Gibb said on Saturday morning she was ‘‘super excited’’ to be back open for business.
‘‘I had an inkling it would take this long, on the night of the fire an electrician told me on the phone about how damaged the electricity lines were,’’ Gibb said.
‘‘It’s great to be back though, we were working every day under battery-operated lamps, we used the opportunity to clean the store and sort new displays.
‘‘When the power came on we were able to do a little bit more, but we had no internet because the fibre lines were damaged.’’
While Paper Plus had reopened for the weekend, it would temporarily close again from today to Thursday as there was still some rewiring to do.
The temporary closure meant that NZ Post services in Blenheim were restricted to Springlands.
‘‘I know some of our elderly customers really miss the postal services, some people were even asking us to open a temporary store,’’ Gibb said.
The Redwoodtown New Zealand Post shop in Countdown Redwoodtown closed on July 1 but the company said it was committed to finding a partner in the Blenheim suburb.
‘‘We are moving out of Countdown, but we are not leaving the community,’’ a NZ Post spokeswoman said in June.
The spokeswoman said last week NZ Post had tried to find a business suitable for operating a postal services agency within the Redwoodtown area since the previous agency ceased operating in the middle of 2019.
‘‘However, as of today, we have not been able to do so,’’ she said.
‘‘We know that customers that used to use the Redwoodtown agency previously are now visiting the other two postal services agencies in Blenheim for their postal, courier and bill payment needs.’’
She said those two services, Paper Plus on Market St and the one attached to Unichem Springlands on Middle Renwick Road had experienced more business and foot traffic as a result of the Redwoodtown closure.
Blenheim man Pat Mcindoe said it was a shame to have lost the Redwoodtown service, but said he used the CBD service more anyway.
Redwoodtown residents Shana Penhalluriack and Maddy Harvey said they did not miss the service – but put that down to not being in the target market.
‘‘I think with social media we don’t need postal services as much,’’ Harvey said. ‘‘But certainly the elderly need it.’’
‘‘It’s great to be back though, we were working every day under batteryoperated lamps, we used the opportunity to clean the store and sort new displays.’’ Karen Gibb Paper Plus Blenheim owner, pictured with co-owner Simon Gibb.