Covid-19: Dozens of empty stores on Queen St as Auckland's 'golden mile' reels

Monday, 28 September 2020

More than two dozen shops are empty on Auckland's Queen Street as the economic effect of Covid-19 begins to bite. (April 2020)

Dozens of shops on Auckland’s “golden mile” are empty and an estate agency says it looks like it’s “done 12 rounds with boxer Mike Tyson”.

Stuff counted 27 empty shop frontages between the Town Hall and Customs Street, and three more where renovations were underway or with “leased” signs, as Covid-19 restrictions bite.

“We don’t have students, we don’t have tourists, we don’t have cruise ships and a lot of corporates are still not back in the office,” said Chris Beasleigh, the national director of retail sales and leasing for Bayleys.

“It’s like a triple whammy,” he told Stuff.

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Without tourists, cruise ship stopovers, foreign students and office workers, Auckland’s Queen Street has been hard hit.

* Wellington business owners worried Golden Mile plans will be 'disastrous' for retailers

Big brand stores are among almost 30 empty shopfronts counted by Stuff on Queen Street.

While the big brand international stores and most banks remain, the gaps are largely smaller shops which haven’t withstood six months of Covid-19 lockdowns, closed borders and a lack of tourists.

“It’s the same in Wellington, and all the cities which have big office and tourist populations, Los Angeles, New York and London,” said Beasleigh.

Heart of the City CEO Viv Beck was at the opening of Auckland's new 'Commercial Bay' centre on Quay Street in June.

He said both zones in Queen Street had been hit, between Victoria St and the Waterfront which had lost tourists and office workers, and south of Victoria St where students had boosted eateries and fast fashion.

The CBD promotion agency Heart of the City said foot traffic in the downtown area had been through ups and downs since Covid-19 restrictions began, were relaxed, then tightened again.

Auckland's Queen Street is beginning to show signs that hard times have hit with an increase in businesses shutting up shop.

“Restaurant month began in August and events sold well, people were out and about, then on Aug 11 (when alert level 2.5 began) it completely died again to be down 80 per cent,” said Viv Beck the CEO.

“Last week it was 35 per cent down,” she said

Spending in the CBD was down just 20 per cent by the final days of alert level 1 in August, which equated to the removal of the traditional spending by foreign tourists and cruise ship visitors.

Beck acknowledged the recent vacancies but said the number of empty premises was historically low.

“Two to three per cent (vacancies) are really historic lows, it has been up to the high 20s, then 14-ish, and in the Global Financial Crisis (2009) was about 12 per cent.”

Both Beck and Beasleigh saw the dip as temporary.

“We've got long-standing retail and new retail, and the role of Queen St in the city will remain important,” Beck told Stuff.

“I’m a strong believer in Queen Street it’s just had that perfect storm - it looks like it’s done 12 rounds with Mike Tyson,” said Beasleigh.

Beasleigh said landlords might look for tenants for one or two years until things picked up, and global brands were held back from looking at opportunities because they can’t travel to view premises.

“There is a change in retail with a move to digital, but people are interested in concept stores and the shopping experience,” said Beck.

She said temporary art installations in empty space had made a difference, and she hoped Artweek from October 10 would help draw more people into the CBD.

“The big thing is getting people back to work,” she said – referring to big CBD employers such as Auckland Council with large numbers of staff still working from home.