White By Design, originally established in Roslyn Village in 2006, has most latterly been based in the Centre City Mall,but the end-of-lease closing down sale signs are up and Ms Jones will close the doors by the end of the year.
Born into the Dunedin rag trade, Ms Jones shifted from Roslyn to George St in 2014, when the area began losing its vibrancy, and was in two different locations in the main street before moving to Centre City Mall.
Retail was very tough, particularly in Dunedin, she said.
The redevelopment of the retail quarter had made it difficult for people to shop, as they did not know what streets were open and could not be bothered coming into the heart of the city.
Parking was both difficult and expensive, Ms Jones said.
Trade had been down 50% in the past year, her business was no longer viable and it was time to move on after making what was a “really tough decision”.
The fashion industry had also changed; people often did not want to pay for quality, something which she prided herself on.
She would miss her customers and she also paid tribute to her staff — most recently she had one part-time employee — saying customers loved getting service and having conversations.
To improve retail in Dunedin, people had to “be brave” and come back into the city, while the Dunedin City Council needed to sort out parking, or free buses needed to be offered, she said.
The third quarter (Q3) Retail Radar survey of Retail NZ members pointed to an improvement in confidence, with 65% confident or very confident that their businesses would survive over the next 12 months, compared with just 58% in the June quarter and 57% in last year’s September quarter, RNZ reported.
“The fourth quarter is critical for retailers with key sales periods, including the Labour Weekend sales, Black Friday sales and Christmas promotions,” Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said.
“Many retailers rely heavily on strong sales during this period to ensure they have a buffer for quieter months. So it’s encouraging to see that a significant number of retailers are expecting buoyant Christmas sales.”
But 43% still did not expect to meet their sales targets over the fourth quarter, ending in December, she said.
The growth in confidence followed poor sales in Q3, when 70% of survey respondents did not meet their sales targets.
“Optimism is the key word, yet sales data has still been weak,” Ms Young said.
Inflation and cost of living were the main issues, though concern had eased with falling inflation and recent cuts to the official cash rate, she said.
sally.rae@odt.co.nz
