BUSINESS IN DUNEDIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3782, 7 September 1926, Page 36

BUSINESS IN DUNEDIN.

QUIET BUT SATISFACTORY. A PROSPEROUS COMMUNITY. While the captains of industry were sleanmr a space and pursuing a campaign lor the establishment of the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, the raven of discouragement was croaking the word Slump” until finally his throaty call, rejoundinc with dismal persistence on the trs of the public, created a restiveness at became slightly infectious. But the chibition was well on its wav. and the vowds came to Dunedin, and all was bright md gav until the tumult and the shouting lied and the captains and the kings departed. And then, when everything seemed peaceful and quiet, the raven flapped his vings and perched like a black shadow on the overhead wires in Princes street, and fioaked once more, in a drearv monotone. •“Watch now! The slump, the slump.” But from inquiries made by our fepresentitive, it seems that the wheels •f industry are rolling along smoothly •nd oilily. It is admitted that “things •re a little quiet in some quarters, but then is invariably a quiet time of the tear, and the Exhibition is not held to blame for the fact that money is not being •pent with any great deal of freedom. “As a matter of fact,” said a George •treet draper, “it’s a tribute in many cases to the thrift* and wealth of the people that they are able to hang on for a while. It shows that they are not desperately in need of anything if they can refrain from buying. A man can go without a suit for three months if he wants to, perhaps. Why? Because he has got a suit that is good enough. And that is an illustration of the position in business, to-day. No. I would not say that there is a depression. Things are a little quieter, but then business is also quieter in the North Island. The whole fact of the matter is that we are getting back to the pre-war times. There is more competition and there are lower prices.” He added that'there seemed to be an inclination to blame the Exhibition for any quietness that might exist, but he was convinced that the Exhibition had nothing whatever to do vgith it. If to. why was there a drop in Auckland* in view of the money that Auckland spent at the Exhibition.? “No. it is just a wave of less spendmg* he reiterated. “A psychological effect of the conditions in Now Zealand. There has been talk of lower prices for products, •nd th« Government has announced that

there must be less spending. The general impression is that everyone must ‘ca’ canny.’ Conditions in the south are really better than in the north as far as the retail trades are concerned.” The speaker pointed out that this time last year people were buying in preparation for the Exhibition and now they had all they wanted. The ease with which people got credit was probably the reason why little less business was done in cash. He concluded by saying that the bogey of unemployment had been given more prominence than he thought was iustified. . Another man in a similar line of business said that he had found business a bit brighter than usual for this time of the year. A good many people were attributing the r airly quiet period to the Exhibition, but that was true only in part, because at the present time there was Dominion-wide depression. Exhibition or no Exhibition, there would have been a quietness in trade, because it was faced with the old, old trouble of imports exceeding exports. “No, personally, I think the Exhibition is only one of the factors in making trade quiet,” he said. “Of course, right through the Exhibition business has been ery erratic, and since then it has been patchy, too. However, we have started the spring season well—better than last year, for that matter. Mind you, I don’t think the spring and summer trade is going to be easy, but I think it will be better. However, with brighter weather, people eel happier and more optimistic, and I, therefore, am optimistic. The season so far is very young, bTit the indications lead one to expect a fairly good time.” “Of course, we are in a different category from most other trades,” said a prominent tobacconist, “in that we are affected by events in the town. This time last year, for instance, we had the American fleet here, and sales jumped up; therefore it would oe unfair to make a comparison. As it is, we are a little behind on last year’s figures, but we are ahead on the year before. There has been no slump at all, and, taken all round, our business is better.”

That business was “really good,” was the happy assertion of a land agent. “Especially in building houses,” lie r.dded. “Oh, yes. we’re putting through big business. This has been the best month of the past ten. It is all modern stuff, too, just off the builders’ hands. It is harder to quit old-fashioned places, as the owners generally ask the price of a modern residence for them.” So far, the reporter had been unable to get on the trail of the elusive slump, but it seemed as though he had struck it when he visited .. bookseller. “O’i yes, there is no doubt about that,” he said, in reply to the interviewer’s query, “Has there been a slump?” But on referring to his books he made the discovery that conditions were no poorer than those of last year. Another bookseller said that business was a little quieter than it was last year, but it was improving, and the Christmas trade was not far off now, so that on the whole the prospects were fairly bright. A butcher was the only man who appeared at II dissatisfied. Business, he said, was a good deal quieter than it was last year, and he was of opinion that the Exhibition was responsible. However, he was the only one. The raven’s augury has not been fulfilled.