City council weighs in on closure

Mayor Tim Shadbolt and local MP Liz Craig are among those who have spoken out about the scheduled closure of the T&T childrenswear store in Invercargill.

It was recently announced that the store would close at the end of May, and within two days a petition against the closure has drawn more than 400 signatures.

‘‘JK Kids and Pumpkin Patch have closed, and now our local T&T is at risk of closing. I’d like to find out why. Are they all the victims of internet shopping?’’ Shadbolt said.

Craig said although she was saddened the store may be closing, it gave her hope that the petition has drawn substantial support.

‘‘While online shopping is becoming increasingly popular, it still doesn’t replace the personalised service in-store shopping offers, the ability to try things on to get the perfect fit, or to come in the next day to exchange an item.

‘‘Ensuring local families have a variety of options to choose from is also crucial for a vibrant central city,’’ Craig said.

Invercargill City Centre coordinator, Kari Graber said it was disappointing to lose a national retailer from the city centre, and it would be a serious loss if T&T were to close its doors.

It would mean job losses, a loss of choice for consumers, and another retail space in the city centre to be filled, she said.

‘‘These smaller provincial cities are in a fight for survival; losing even a smaller chain store like this can be really detrimental to us,’’ Graber said.

The council and MPs had to get a lot more involved in the local economy and be open to having conversations with retailers, she said.

‘‘Especially in smaller cities like Invercargill it is difficult; bigger populations can carry economic upturn and downturn.’’

It was important for council to take a leading role in coming up with innovative ideas and activities that draw crowds into the central business district and give them a reason to linger.

‘‘With our Christmas Festival in the CBD, which we have had for the last four years, we can show an increase in sales in the CBD over those years,’’ she said.

Graber said that T&T had been exemplary in supporting council events, like the city centre trick-ortreating at Halloween, and events like Burt Munro.

Helping local retailers in the city centre was vital to creating a vibrant city centre and ensuring that people had choice, especially in the middle market segment, where many smaller cities had started to lose out, she said.

‘‘We can encourage people to shop and be local - these may be chain stores, but they are local chain stores, employing local people,’’ Graber said.

The chain has a limited presence in the South Island, with six stores, two in Christchurch, and one each in Nelson, Timaru, Dunedin, and Invercargill. A store in Queenstown was closed at the end of 2015.

The company was unable provide comment yesterday. to