A merry time for retailers

Cash registers across Taranaki are ringing in the Christmas cheer.

In New Plymouth, Guize Men’s and Women’s Clothing owner Brett Stokell said he’s on track to an extremely successful month. ‘‘If it carries on like this it will be the best December ever. We’ll see what the rest of the month is like.

‘‘Maybe people are not travelling overseas and are staying local. There’s been a lot of out of town people in New Plymouth. The garden festival was fantastic.’’

Stokell, who moved his store on to Devon St this year, said clothes made a personal gift and his new location had brought in a lot of new customers.

‘‘People have been incredibly supportive. It’s been amazing.’’

A surge in shopping activity has been evident this week, especially around New Plymouth where inner-city traffic has been reduced to a crawl, with car parks at a premium since Monday.

Grant Sharpe of New Plymouth’s Essence of Style said he’s been busy for a number of days.

‘‘It’s been good. About the same as last year.’’

It was traditional to be busy on Christmas Eve, but the way Christmas fell on a Friday this year meant a lot of people had started their summer leave on December 21, giving themselves four shopping days.

‘‘People had more time, psychologically, to spread out their shopping,’’ Sharpe said.

Along with umbrellas, a good seller for him this year had been Ugear models, which came from the Ukraine.

Further along Devon St, Arthaus, a lifestyle store that sells clothing, home furnishings and gifts, was also doing well.

Owner Lisa England said they were well up on last year, overall.

‘‘That’s because everyone came in after Covid.

‘‘And the amount of out-oftowners we’ve had here, who have never been to New Plymouth before and love it. The last week leading up to Christmas has been pretty hectic.’’

England said the Covid-19 lockdown had been an anxious time for her business. She did not know if people were going to have money to come into shops like hers once it was over, she said.

‘‘They’re wants, not needs. But, it’s been a good year.’’

Down in Stratford, gift shop Cottage Lane has seen more foot traffic than last year, co-owner Janette Jeffares said.

‘‘We’ve had lovely support from the community. This last week has been really busy.’’

It’s 2020, she said. ‘‘So we’re not expecting miracles.’’

Ha¯wera’s Maple And Wild, which sells gifts and plants, has also been kept hard at work. But it hasn’t felt rushed, owner Amy Byers said.

‘‘It’s been steady. It seems more spread out this year. People are definitely trying to support local.’’

Despite the late shopping surge, Paymark figures show eftpos spending from January 12 to December 22, was down 3.76 per cent for the same period last year. In comparison, Auckland was down 14 per cent and Canterbury was down 8.9 per cent.

From December 1 to 22, spending via electronic transactions in Taranaki was down 2.8 per cent from the same time in 2019.

Paymark figures show the smaller regions, like Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay, are doing better than the bigger centres.

‘‘If it carries on like this it will be the best December ever.’’

Brett Stokell

Guize Men’s and Women’s Clothing