BUSINESS BRIGHTENING

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1932, Page 9

BUSINESS BRIGHTENING

OPTIMISM IN AUCKLAND BUILDING TRADE REVIVAL. •‘SPRING OFFENSIVE” IN SHOPS. Support for the belief that a better tone is developing in business can be found in numerous fields of unrelated activities in Auckland, says the Herald, and, stocktaking completed, many firms are launching their "spring offensives” in a bolder and more confident spirit than they evinced last year. Optimism is becoming more robust as the days lengthen and the signs of improving conditions accumulate. One of the most cheerful men in Auckland on Friday was a partner in a suburban joinery business. “There has been a great improvement in our trade in the past few weeks,” he said, “and cur factory is now working on Saturday mornings. Orders from the country are remarkably brisk. Timber is required, particularly for the erection of new cowsheds and fowlhouses, and in the past week we have had orders from as far afield as Hikurangi in the north to Te Kauwhata in the south for those particular classes of jobs. The encouraging feature is that those placing the orders are mostly in a position to pay spot cash. SUBURBAN BUILDING. “There are also definite indications that a revival in building in the suburban areas is beginning, partcularly in the eastern suburbs like St. Heliers and Orakei. Our business correspondence also shows that other parts of the Dominion are responding to the better outlook. Building in Invercargill, for instance, is said to be very active.” The manager of a soft goods warehouse, with ramifications throughout the Dominion, expressed the .view that Auckland would emerge from the depression quicker than most other provinces. He thought the spirit of enterprise was more acutely developed in the north. His travellers had been sent to the provincial centres last week with the new season’s samples, and it was believed that the order books returned during the next few weeks would reflect in material form the optimism which at the moment was mainly psychological. New Zealand woollen mills have had a fairly busy season. The knitting craze, which began about a year ago, has not yet spent its strength, and the demand for “made-up” woollen goods has been steady. JUDICIOUS- SPENDING. “Business has been quite bright in the cheaper lines,” said the director of a large drapery firm. “Competition in that field, of course, is exceptionally keen, but the shopping crowds abroad to-day indicate ,at least, that there is still money available for judicious spending. Just now we are between seasons, both in town and country. The farmer is short of funds because his cheques this month are among the smallest of the year. However, with the payment of his bonus cheque next month and the opening of a new dairying season under favourable climatic conditions, there should be a general brightening in trade.” The words of an old hymn, “Raise the standard high and ,l£eep the people : cheerful,” was quoted by the manager of a clothing business. “I am no unqualified optimist,” he explained, “and we have a long, road to travel before we emerge from our troubles. Nevertheless, one can.-'regard the signs of improvement now discernible as distinctly encouraging. We are holding our own, on a sales basis, with the position a year ago. The recent firming of the produce markets gives wings to our hopes. A little clearer evidence that the trend is definitely upward must result in a loosening of the purse-strings to allow expenditure on numerous lines, the purchase of which has been deferred until the outlook brightens.” <