It is no secret that virtually all businesses throughout the country have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 problem. Faced with closure for five weeks and then opening to an uncertain future has challenged all business owners and will continue to do so for months to come. Our local business associations play a key role in fostering business in our town centres and are more important than ever during these tough times. Channel Mag’s Aidan Bennett talked to the managers of the Devonport, Takapuna and Milford business associations in late May, as they were learning to live with the restrictions of level two. You can read the interview here and also view the online chats that Aidan had with Shaulyn van Baaren (Devonport), Terence Harpur (Takapuna) and Murray Hill (Milford) by clicking on the links below.
AIDAN BENNETT: What has been the impact of COVID-19 to your BID area?
SHAULYN VAN BAAREN: First of all, the whole community has come together to support local business, recognising that it is not only a global issue, but also a community issue. Our residents, local community groups and business communities really came together both online and off during the lockdown period. We saw wonderful emotional support, encouragement and “we can’t wait for you to be back” testimonials for our businesses; our residents really had their back!
It was great to see our hospitality businesses open in level three and offer takeaways, coffees, etc. and be well supported. As we come into level two it has been great to see that over 95% of our businesses have reopened their doors, while adhering to the social distancing rules and other protocols for protection from the COVID-19 virus.The challenge though is going to be what things look like two to three months down the road, as we are a business community that does have its challenges in the winter. We are going to have a lack of tourism and cruise ships to mitigate due to the borders being closed.
AB: What initiatives do you have under way to assist members and get things back on track as much as possible?
SVB: We have had our Shop Local campaign that has been very strategic in showing the local community what is available on their doorstep. The local community supporting local businesses is going to be very important so we need to make sure they understand the great variety on offer in Devonport. The next two weeks – and government announcements around levels changing – are going to be quite critical in terms of understanding what businesses can do during the winter months. We are hopeful of getting back to events such as the Matariki Festival and our Travelling Fare, and have a heavy spring events programme that could include Fashion on the Wharf, Glow and Friday After Five. Hopefully these can be held in 2020 so they can play a part in our COVID-19 recovery. Unfortunately we are still at the mercy of government guidelines to understand exactly what we will be able to do. There may also be some anxiety within the community about gatherings for these events.
AB: What are the challenges ahead?
SVB: We need to ramp up our online presence and speak in a language that appeals to Kiwis so we attract visitors from other parts of Auckland and from around New Zealand. Without international tourists and cruise ships this will be critical for our businesses. We are presently concentrating in targeting locals and our challenge ahead is to use our online presence and highlight the stories of our businesses, the history behind our attractions and our beautiful village to get domestic visitors into our area. We do have a lot of history in the village of Devonport and we want to share that with not only a local market but also regional and national markets.
AB: Why are you optimistic about the future for your patch?
SVB: We are excited about the probability that America’s Cup will go ahead and what that’s going to look like. Again, the next few weeks are going to be very interesting in that regard to see what eventuates. We have some great course visibility from Maungauika/North Head and our beautiful beaches that should draw people to the area at AC36 time. This will bring in people who may not have otherwise visited.
The newly upgraded Windsor Park playground on the waterfront will also help by bringing the family demographic to the area. We also have our amazing library that gives families and children other things to do, in addition to sitting near the water in our great cafes and eateries.We do have lots of potential but we just don’t know how this is going to roll out. What is truly heart warming is that the residents of Devonport have been extremely generous and kind, even to the extent of buying SOS Coffee vouchers but saying they are not going to use them. It speaks volumes for the kindness and compassion of the people we have in Devonport. There are people who have been here for generations and newer people who just want to see the place do well and thrive. That’s what makes me extremely optimistic about the future post-Covid.
Visit: www.devonport.co.nz
AIDAN BENNETT: What has been the impact of COVID-19 to your BID area?
TERENCE HARPUR: COVID-19 has been a very difficult time for businesses. In Takapuna, where a large proportion are retail, hospitality and personal services businesses, the effects have been very damaging. In level four, most businesses had zero income for five weeks, and in level three many were only on 10-20% of usual income levels. Even now – in Level two – we have had dramatic decreases in usual revenue levels as most office workers are still working from home.
We have had great support thought from our local community – so a big THANK YOU to those locals for supporting your town centre!
AB: What initiatives do you have under way to assist members and get things back on track as much as possible?
TH: We have many initiatives to help our members. First of all, we have provided a lot of support through information, mentorship programmes, expert advice and training directly to businesses. As I was on the Mayoral Business Advisory Panel, we also had effective high-level lobbying taking members’ and other SME issues directly to the Mayor and government to get additional support for businesses. This is still ongoing.
We have also targeted bringing back customers to Takapuna through “What’s open in Level Three” and a “Love Taka Shop Taka - support your local” marketing campaign, aimed at our local catchment.
We also launched a specific incentive campaign giving away two $5000 shopping sprees for people who spend $20 or more in Takapuna in a “Support Takapuna and Win” campaign. This is aimed a bit further afield to draw in customers from around the North Shore, central and west Auckland.
These are all on top of our usual marketing through the website, social media and newsletters. We have more campaigns and initiatives in the pipeline too – so keep an eye out for them.
AB: What are the challenges ahead?
TH: We are anticipating some changing consumer behaviour into the future: A higher proportion of people will work from home/remote offices, an increase in online sales (New Zealand is still behind other OECD countries) and a move to reduce office space and to work from shared environments.
We also anticipate that over the next 12 months we will see a more cautious spending pattern – especially for that disposable household income.
AB: Why are you optimistic about the future for your patch?
TH: Takapuna offers something unique in Auckland with its environment and business mix. We offer a very healthy work-life balance, which will become even more important to organisations following COVID.
We also have a lot of owner-operated businesses, which will benefit from the strong social movement of “supporting local” and the better customer-service benefits of bricks and mortar stores. We’ve also been voted Aucklanders’ favourite beach (receiving over 50% of votes), which is a natural draw card.On top of all this, we have large investment and developments in Takapuna.
Our high-street Hurstmere Road is getting a major makeover. We are getting a brand new high-rise car park with 420 new spaces, which is opening in August/September. A new public space with a town square, and new office, retail, hospitality and apartments… as well as transport connection upgrades and the town centres connections to its beach enhanced. So it’s all go in Takapuna!
Visit: www.ilovetakapuna.co.nz
AIDAN BENNETT: What has been the impact of COVID-19 to your BID area?
MURRAY HILL: To date there has been fairly minimal damage and only time will tell what the new ‘normal’ is going to be like. Unfortunately a jeweller in the mall closed and moved back to their other shop in the CBD. Flight Centre has also gone but that was pre-lockdown.
AB: What initiatives do you have under way to assist members and get things back on track as much as possible?
MH: During level four we ran Milford centric promotions weekly on Facebook. This was an audience of 10,000 locals to keep in touch with and this seemed to work well. We also profiled businesses and their people on Facebook in level three and plan to do more in-depth profiles on individual businesses and include these on our website, which we have been upgrading to become more community-focused and continue to develop as the place to go to find out everything about Milford. The first one of these business profiles was in our customer EDM that went out in late May.
We also plan to draw more attention to streetscape – planters, sculptures and artworks.
We are also developing more activities to do in Milford, especially for visitors. An example is highlighting our walkways, which is a project we are doing in conjunction with the local board.
AB: What are the challenges ahead?
MH: Firstly finding what the new ‘normal’ is going to be like. I also am keen to upskill business owners on digital tools to intergrate into the MBA social media platform – mostly at no cost to them except for their time.
We also want to find businesses that locals spend money in that we currently don’t have in Milford and attract them to the village. That will be good for everyone. Interesting is that our locals currently spend $694 million on purchases annually, with only $71m of this being spent in Milford. So you can see the potential. So we’re analysing Marketview reports (on spending patterns) to see what’s missing from the mix and endeavouring to draw them to open up here.
AB: Why are you optimistic about the future for your patch?
MH: We have a great deal to be optimistic about. We had a great vibe in Milford pre-COVID-19 on the back of the very successful street closure for our Vive La France market day. People loved it and asked for more street closures as the atmosphere and freedom of movement was just so good.
Our goal is to be ‘The Premium Shopping Centre on the Shore’ and we were already well down that track to achieving this pre-COVID, so we will continue to be focused on making Milford the place that’s easy for everyone to shop in. Our new catch phrase sums it up – ‘We’re here, we’re near, we care!”
The NZRPG marketing team (owners of the mall) and the Milford Business Association are closely aligned to ensure we both get the best out of our marketing spends.
Other things to be excited about include: NZRPG have started their new 67 apartment development, another apartment development is consented and selling on the corner of Pierce Road, we are closely aligned with local organisations – WEEPS, Milford Rotary, MRA, churches, etc.
We also have a good rapport with Council. We are working closely on stormwater drainage at the Shakespeare Road intersection – although this has been put on hold at present due to the COVID-related budget issue. Another project is making the Milford Road bus stop more attractive in conjunction with Auckland Transport – with seating, planting and signage.
We have some new professional businesses that have come into Milford recently. Sola Landscapes have bought premises in Shakespeare Road and they are closely aligned with another local business Sentinal Planning. The owners of these businesses are both local ex-Westlake/Rosmini boys that helped with our initial Wairau Estuary Boardwalk Plan at massively reduced rates. Emerge Property Solutions has also moved to Milford, they specialise in retail and professional fitouts.
ANZ bank has moved out allowing for redevelopment of the site as per the Milford Centre Plan. This plan encouraged cafés opening in the Village Square along with retail, offices and apartments.
Visit: www.milfordshops.co.nz
