NAPIER’S RESTORATION

Taranaki Daily News, 9 June 1931, Page 5

NAPIER’S RESTORATION

REMARKABLE BUSINESS ‘ STRONG SPENDING POWER. . - .y POSITION OF SHOPKEEPERS. Napier, June 6. Commercial travellers say that Napier, or its size, is erne of the best business towns in New Zealand to-day and theie appears no reason for doubting the statement when one sees the steady flow of trade in t!ie shops. Another surprising fact for the stranger is that the price standard is low and a third is that more trade is being done on a cash basis than for many a day. Who would have dreamed, •when standing among the ruins four months ago, that all that is implied by brisk business would have been realised so soon? No doubt the calmer and most far-sight-ed minds at the time foresaw the day when the Napier population would be back to something near normal, but the severity of the economic blow must have made them believe that the process of re-establishment even in the domestic , sphere would be very gradual. But the knotted knout of harsh adversity did not cut deep enough to prostrate the victim for long. Napier’s business tells the story of quick recovery. As soon as shops were stocked there was a rush for household necessaries, from pots and pans* to beds and blankets, from crockery to clocks. BRISK CASH TRANSACTIONS. The remarkable thing was that with little credit available so many people came with their cash iu 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 agreed to the traders’ suggestion that the late night should be changed from Friday to Saturday. Now on Saturday nights the verandah that rims 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 the street footpath is an absolute necessity. Although there are people who bemoan the utilisation of this garden park as a site 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 £lO,OOO necessary and the building was ready in about three weeks. First preference as lessees of tho shops was given to those whose premises had been destroyed, and the rent was fixed at one halfpenny per square foot of floor space per week. Thus they have a rental charge that is only a bagatelle. Men who used to pay £7 and £8 a week pay 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 ap- . parent 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 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 to supply stocks before there was any means 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 a low standard of retail prices are cheap rent, the absence of < the burden 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 (Id in his old shop. FEW EMPLOYEES REQUIRED. , One unfortunate feature is that few employees 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 £5O 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 tflie cutter is in Auckland in a job. Possibly this business to-day is returning a greater profit to its owners than formerly, and it is not building up book debts. The return to the cash basis of business is hailed with enthusiasm by the traders, who say that credit had been carried to extremes in Napier. Much of the money was safe, but it meant that interest provision had to be made in the price lists, a provision which, as usual, was anything but beneficial to the cash buyer. Prompted by the 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 that she reduced her month’s account by £4. HIGHER PRIVATE RENTS. The traders who had the right .to premises in the community shopping block have an advantage over those who are using private temporary premises in the vicinity. There., rentals of £3 a week are being paid for a similar amount ot space. But there is no sign of cessation in the expansion of the temporary shopping area. Every day new places arc coming into use, a sure indication that there is money to be made. The question of the distribution of State aid will affect future plans in regard to premanent business premises. There is no doubt that most business people expected an allocation upon. a much less exacting system than that indicated in the policy statement of the Rehabilitation Committee. When asked if the country could possibly made good the loss of everyone irrespective of his ability to help himself, 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 be 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 know where they stand, and the sooner they know it the sooner permanent rebuilding on a wide scale will commence. Obviously State aid must be 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. ,