Trade Aid to close its 24 stores
Trade Aid will progressively close its 24 stores, which are spread from Whangārei in the north to Dunedin in the south, the organisation said yesterday.
The stores, which included three in Auckland and four in the wider Wellington area and Wairarapa, had faced a challenging retail environment in the past two years.
In the South Island Trade Aid has stores in Christchurch, Nelson, Picton, Timaru and Oamaru, while in the North Island it stores in multiple centres including Hamilton, Raglan, Palmerston North and Tauranga.
“The cost-of-living crisis has led to rising costs and diminishing sales, which has significantly impacted on the organisation's financial performance,” Trade Aid said in a statement.
The organisation, which was founded in New Zealand in 1973, was not closing, and intended to continue as an importer and wholesaler of food and craft products, selling to supermarkets as well as much loved New Zealand brands and retailers.
Its mission was to work with small food and craft producers around the world to help create a world where trade was fair for all.
“To ensure its ongoing sustainability, Trade Aid has made the difficult decision to begin the process of progressively reducing its retail network,” the organisation said.
“However, through focusing on importing, wholesaling, and selling online, Trade Aid remains committed to its purpose; to improve producers and farmers’ lives through providing them with a fair income and a way out of structural poverty, and to raise Kiwis’ awareness of fair trade.”
Trade Aid stores are known for selling handmade craftwork, such as baskets, rugs, and bags, but chief executive Paul Davenport said it was a supplier to more than 1300 businesses, including cafes like Wellington’s People’s Coffee.
Davenport said the first stores would be likely to close by the end of June after sales to clear stock. He said the shops had 10 fulltime staff across the country, and many part-time staff.
There would be some job losses, he said, from what was a community of believers in the good that fair trade did in the world.
Trade Aid co-founder Vi Cottrell had endorsed the move to becoming online trading and wholesaling, Davenport said.
“Trade Aid has established itself as the market leader in fair trade coffee sourcing, facilitating ethical supply chains for some of New Zealand’s most iconic coffee brands, as well as selling coffee to local roasters and retailers,” the organisation said. The founder Vi Cotte
“Trade Aid’s business model is adapting to focus on online retail sales and wholesale craft, food, and coffee, making it easier for anyone, anywhere in New Zealand to purchase fair trade products.”
The organisation thanked staff and volunteers at its shops.