‘Sale’ indicates bad year for retailers?

Press, 2 December 1989, Page 10

‘Sale’ indicates bad year for retailers?

By

SARONA lOSEFA

Retailing this year is the worst for 10 years, says the president of the New Zealand Retail and Wholesale Merchants’ Association, Mr Kevin Smith. He said a good way of monitoring whether retailers were on an upturn was to look out for the “for sale” signs in shop windows. “If shops hold sales at this time of the year then it’s a sure sign that their stock is not turning over. “In good times, this would be the last time of the year to hold sales,” Mr Smith said.

Asked why the CanterburyWestland branch of his association had said Christchurch retailers were having a better year this year, Mr Smith said there were some areas doing well, but this was sporadic and inconsistent “There are some who are doing well but for some it’s a figment of the imagination,” Mr Smith said. Some retailers, in spite of their hardships, were reluctant to publicise it because it was like self-fulfilling prophecies of doom and gloom.

“The public read it and decide maybe they shouldn’t be buying at this time and it gets worse,” he said. Pay equity would further break down retailing, Mr Smith said. “If retailers are expected to pay shop assistants the equivalent of laboratory technicians, as has been suggested, then the only way businesses will meet, that cost is by charging consumers more or laying off, and not hiring new staff.” Mr Smith said some retailers were trying to make ends meet

by continually reducing prices. “If you continue that you get to the point where they go bellyup.” He was unwilling to say it would be a “black” Christmas for retailers, but salt) stocks still coming off the wharf for shops meant retailers had as little as 23 days to sell them. Businesses had to sell fast “There are a lot of innovative ideas being used to sell stock in shops these days, but for some there’s little hope at a time when people just aren’t buying,” Mr Smith said.