Restaurants starving?

Press, 19 February 1983, Page 7

Restaurants starving?

Many Christchurch restaurants have experienced a marked drop in patronage during the last month, and a further decline has been predicted. Although the period after Christmas is traditionally quiet for the restaurant business, some restaurant owners say they are feeling the pinch more sharply than usual, and have had to reduce the hours worked by staff. The secretary of the Canterbury branch of the Hotel and Restaurant Workers’ Union, Mr G. D. Harding, has said that Christchurch might soon be like Auckland, where he estimated that 40 restaurants were for sale because of a decline in business. “I don’t think that is happening here to the same extent. But I predict such a decline is coming.” he said. “So many new places have been opening, there may soon not be enough business to go round.” He said employment levels

in the restaurant business had been “on a high" in the last few years, and these were falling as restaurant owners trimmed the number of their staff in line with how well their businesses were faring. He said that hotel restaurants especially were losing business, as were restaurants without a "sturdy” reputation. The Christchurch spokesman for the New Zealand Licensed Restaurant and Cabaret Association, Mr R. Loenen, said that some people could no longer afford to dine out as much as in recent years, and business firms seemed to be reducing the entertainment allowance which had brought businessmen into restaurants. Mr Loenen agreed with Mr Harding that Christchurch had a large quota of restaurants. He estimated that there were 7000 seats in Christchurch restaurants, perhaps too many to be filled regularly. He said that most

restaurant owners had been either reducing staff or reducing the number of hours worked by each person. Mr Loenen said that business at both his and other restaurants was quiet, and he predicted that winter would be even slower. Of 20 restaurant owners or proprietors’ approached by “The Press" this week, the majority said business was much quieter than usual. Only a small number of the restaurants, including some family-style restaurants offering more cheaply priced meals, said that business was no worse than the usual postChristmas period. Both Auckland and Wellington restaurants were recently reported to have experienced a downturn in business, and the secretary of the Waikato branch of the Hotel and Restaurant Workers’ Union said that four Hamilton restaurants had failed in the last six months, while others had reduced their hours of business.