NAPIER'S RESTORATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20893, 8 June 1931, Page 11

NAPIER'S RESTORATION.

remarkable business.

STRONG SPENDING POWER.

POSITION OF SHOPKEEPERS,

STATE AID DISTRIBUTION

[by telegraph.—special reporter.] h NAPIER. Saturday. Commercial travellers say that Napier, for its size, is olio of the best business towns in New Zealand to-day and there appears no reason for doubting the statement when one sees the steady flow of trade in tho shops. Another surprising fact for the stranger is that tho price standard is low and a third is that moro trade is being done on a cash basis than for many a day. Who would havo dreamed, when stand jug among tho ruins four months ago, that all that is implied by brisk business would havo been realised so soon ? No / doubt tho calmer and most far-sighted minds at the time foresaw tho day whon Hie Napier population -would be back to something near normal, but the severity of tho economic blow must havo made them believe that tho process of reestablishment even in the domestic sphere would bo very gradual. But the knotted knout of harsh adversity did net cut deep enough to prostrate the victim for long. Napier's business foils the story of quick recovery. As soon as shops were stocked there was a rush for household necessaries, from pots ' aid pans to beds and blankets, from crockery to clocks. Brisk Cash Transactions. • Tho remarkablo thing was that with little credit available so many people came with their cash in hand. And the more casual kinds of trades were similarly stimulated by the fact that so much money was soon being distributed each week in wages. It was early realised that Napier had become for the time being a workman's town, and the commissioner promptly screed to the traders' suggestion that the late night should be changed from Friday to Saturday. Now on Saturday nights the verandah that runs round the two market blocks in Clive Square is so densely packed that the railing to prevent people being pushed over the edge on to the garden plot which runs between the verandah and tho street footpath is nil absolute necessity. Although there are people who bemoan the utilisation of this garden park as a sito for the community shopping blocks an indication, one would say, that sense of proportion received an earthquake jolt, the decision was a master stroke. The Government found the £IO,OOO necessary and the building was ready in about three weeks. First preference as lessees of the shops was given to those whose premises had been destroyed, and the rent .jvas fixed at one halfpenny per square foot of floor space per week. Thu3 they have « rental charge that is only a bagatelle. Men who used to pay £7 and £8 a week rny perhaps £l. Shops' Turnover Rapid. The size of the shops varies but when it is realised that for one 20ft. by 30ft. only £1 5s a week is paid, it is apparent that overhead has been cut to a very considerable extent. The stocks are not very large, the average practice being to buy in small quantities, but the turnover is rapid, and there are warehouses in New Zealand which have reason to rue some hesitancy they displayed over granting credit to customers at the reopening. In the main, however, the retailers have a good word For the merchants, who were not afraid lo supply stocks before there was any juoans of gauging the extent of the coming trade. Practically all the stocks are entirely new and the shopkeepers have no present burden of " dead " stock. The factors which have brought about n low standard of retail prices are cheap rent, the absence of tho burd'en of "dead" stock, and the fact that the traders have been able to buy on a falling market. An idea of the benefit to the consumer may be gathered from the fact that a mercer is able to sell for 25s a standard line of men's trousers which he could not do for less than 29s 6d in his old shop. Few Employees Required. One unfortunate feature is that few rniplovees are required by the shopkeepers. Some shops are run as family concerns and others are carried on by the partners. One might quote the case of a firm of men's outfitters who formerly paid an overhead in rent and wages of £SO a •week To-day they pay a rent of 29s and pay no wages. Most of the employees, however, have found places. Several of the men have opened small businesses, one tailoress has taken over a boarding house, and the cutter is in Auckland in n job. Possibly this business to-day is return/ng a greater profit to its owners than formerly, and it is not building up book debts. The return to the cash basis of business )s hailed with enthusiasm by the traders, who say that credit had been carried to extremes in Napier. Much of the money v.as safe, but it meant that interest provision had to be made in tho price lists, n provision which, as usual, was anything hut beneficial to the cash buyer. Prompted by tho stringency of the times, the wife of a well-to-do business man tried the experiment of buying the household requirements personally, instead of ordering by telephone. She bought her groceries, meat, fish and vegetables in the best market she could find, and found 4 hat she reduced her month's account by £4. Higher Private Rents. Tho traders who had the right to premises in the community shopping block have an advantago over those who are using private temporary premises in the vicinity. There, rentals of £3 a week are being paid for a similar amount of space. But there is no sign of cessation in the expansion of the temporary shopping area. Every day new places are coming into use, a sure indication that there is money to lie made. The question of the distribution of f-tate aid will affect future plans in regard to permanent buisness premises There is no rloulii that most business people expected nil allocation upon a much less exacting system than that indicated in the policy statement of the Rehabilitation Committee. When asked if the country could posfiblv make good the loss of everyone irrespective of his ability to help himfrf'lf, they admit that this would not be possible, but at the same time they consider, that the man who has conserved and built' up his resources should not bo penalised. However, it is not a question that need be discussed here. The main point is that the rehabilitation policy will soon let business people bow where they stand, and the sooner they know it the sooner permanent rebuilding on a wide scale will commence. Obviously State aid must bo distributed on the community value principle, and if ability to pay must carry its responsibilities in this matter, it will just be the same as the operation of taxation principles, which, of course, are far from pleasant to those on the highest scale.