City fruit shops strive to survive

Press, 26 April 1989, Page 12

City fruit shops strive to survive

By

SARONA lOSEFA

Central Christchurch fruit shops are a dying breed and only the very hardy are staying.

■ During the 1960 s boom up to 15 fruit and vegetable shops were in the city area but by 1988 the number had dwindled to five. Now only three survive. The vice-president of the Canterbury Fruit Retailers’ Association, Mr lan Buchanan, owned three shops in central Christchurch but now has only one left in the Cashel Mall. Mr Buchanan said his shop in Colombo Street closed because a clothing shop bought the lease. Higher leases forced him to close his Shades Arcade shop, where the original lease of about $4B a square metre rose to $165 a square metre in eight years. “The small margins you make from fruit and vegetables do not cover rent and other costs. “When customers were paying 99 cents a kilogram for brussels sprouts five years ago and are still paying the same this year, no way can you recover your costs, while other costs increase.” Asked why he bothered to remain in the central city, Mr Buchanan said he believed there was still a

place for the fruit and vegetable shop. “My Cashel Mall shop is doing well but I feel sorry for anyone who tries to start from scratch in the city fruit and vegetable scene now.” In spite of his convictions, Mr Buchanan conceded it was difficult catering for a customer who bought produce for snacks rather than home. “You could have a shop full of people but they might buy only an apple each. If 100 people buy an apple each and you have a 40 per cent mark-up plus GST, it doesn’t leave you with much.” The owner of the Armagh Fruit Shop, Mr Ivan Shaw, said he had no intention of closing down, because the new buildings being built in Armagh Street would concentrate a large work force in the area of his shop. "That doesn’t mean I will get all those people in my shop. I still have to work at quality and service to get the customers in the door.” It was difficult to make enough money to meet the rising costs of rent and GST.

“No-one would buy an apple for $3.50 and that’s the sort of mark-up we would have to make to get rent costs back,” Mr Shaw said. Many of the Chinese-owned produce shops in the central city had closed because the owners were nearing retiring age and their children were entering professions, such as law and medicine, rather than taking over family businesses, said a former fruit shop owner, Mr Wray Lay. Increased competition from supermarkets had also contributed to the central city decline of fruit shops. Reduced parking spaces meant customers bought snacks rather than for families. The president of the Canterbury Property Investors’ Association, Mr Tony Ward, said leases usually reflected the market trend in the area. “No commercial landlord will increase leases to the extent of getting all the tenants to move out. But if businesses cannot generate enough income to remain competitive, they will not remain.”