‘Too many shops in Christchurch’

Press, 15 July 1980, Page 6

‘Too many shops in Christchurch’

I Vance Vivian,- Ltd,, .was, closing its store in. Cathedral] I Square because there were I too many shops in Christchurch, said the company’s I managing-director, Mr Rod Vance, from Wellington yesterday. ! The Vance Vivian branch 'in New Brighton had already I closed, and the city store and The Vault, in Cathedral Square, would close “over the next few weeks,” Mr

Vance said. “It has not. been a profitable business over the last couple of years. There is no point in running one if it isn’t,” he said.

■ The company did not own ] the .freehold of the-s tores, but negotiations were going on over the sale of the leases, he said. The stores' employed 12 people, of whom two might be transferred to the company’s North Island businesses. Mr Vance said Christchurch had. too many shops. A “little walk around the city” would show anyone

what the problem was in Christchurch, Mr Vance said. The city had 50 shops more than it had six 'months ago, largely through the redevelopment of existing buildings. “Everybody is conscious of it but there seems to be no end to it/’ he said. Mr Vance said the company had been “thinking seriously” about closing for the last six months. The company began its Christchurch trading more than 20 years ago. It now has 10 shops in the North Island. - The assistant secretary of the Shop Assistants’ Union (Mrs M. N. Hilston) said a meeting would be held on Friday involving her union, the Clothing Workers’ and Clerical Workers’ unions, and management to discuss the redundancies.