BACK TO NORMAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 217, 14 September 1939, Page 9

BACK TO NORMAL.

TREND IN BUSINESS,

FIRST REACTION PASSING.

MOTOR INDUSTRY HOPEFUL. Out of the general setback which last week followed the declaration of war, business in Auckland is making a steady return to more or less normal conditions. This is the. conclusion reached as the result of inquiries made in the city to-day. Public confidence, affected last week by a mixture of anxiety and caution, now seems generally to be on the way to as nearly complete a restoration as is possible under a state of war. Disruption threatened by abnormal and subnormal buying appears to be dwindling into the distance.

In the foodstuffs field the public is said to be recognising that the position is far from desperate and that there is no shortage of essentials. Grocers are pleased with the response that is being made generally to the appeal for a pursuance of the policy of "business as usual." The temporary difficulty that arose over sugar supplies is described as unfortunate, since it held no real cause for alarm.

As far as general merchandise is concerned the same strengthening of confidence is clearly returning. People had had a tendency to hold back for a fewdays after the declaration of war, said a representative of one of the city's leading retail houses to-day. It was quite an expected reaction, though certainly not strong enough to cause the turning down of any contracts made before the war. Now, however, things seemed to be settling down.

Another man, head of a firm dealing in household amenities, agreed that business was proceeding normally as far as necessities were concerned. The setback had been more pronounced, however, in the case of luxury goods, and recovery was less rapid. Few spheres of industry felt the war repercussions more severely than did the motor trade. In addition to the general slowing up of commerce, it had to bear last week the effects of the complete restriction on the sale of petrol t' l '" the private use of motor vehicles.

"Business was cut off sharply." declared a director of one of the distributing firms. "The outlook last week was reallv serious for the whole motor trade, and the threat of a grave unemployment problem was becoming very real. I think most firms held on to their employees as far as possible, but the relaxation of the restrictions came none too soon.

"In the last day or two business has picked up measurably, and we are quite hopeful that it will get back to normal when the easement of the restrictions comes into operation."

The petrol-selling business of another motor firm has already reached the halfwav mark in its upward trend to more normal conditions. Car sales last week dropped away to nothing, but now seemed to be coming back reasonably well, said the principal of this firm. "Business as usual" is still the soundest and wisest slogan that can be followed, it was stressed to-day. There was no reason for and nothing to be gained by getting "flustered." Business houses were doing their best to carry 011 as they did in normal times, and the public could do nothing better than adopt the same policy itself.