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Murray Chapman says the “shop local” message is getting through.
A small increase in retail spending in Warkworth last quarter, despite the setbacks imposed by Covid-19, indicate people are getting the message to “shop local”, according to the One Warkworth Business Association.
A Marketview report showed retail spending increased 1.6 percent in the September quarter compared to the same period last year.
One Warkworth manager Murray Chapman says it’s a remarkable result, given there are virtually no overseas visitors because of Covid restrictions and the Auckland region suffered almost three weeks of Alert Level 3 lockdown during the quarter.
“It’s all very positive. It means people are heeding the message to keep spending locally,” he says.
Mr Chapman says One Warkworth’s own shop local messages have been bolstered by the Government, which has been reinforcing the same message.
This has also helped to generate impressive figures for nearby centres such as Orewa and Silverdale, which recorded retail spend gains of 4.6 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively.
Mr Chapman says it’s important to keep in mind that local businesses are the ones everyone taps for sponsorship of local events and things like school prizes.
“It’s up to us to support these businesses,” he says.
Other parts of Auckland fared less well than Warkworth and overall retail spend in the region dipped 6.3 per cent during the quarter.
Mahurangi Matters was unable to secure spend breakdowns for other centres in Mahurangi such as Matakana and Leigh.
