Business in capital taking double hit from Covid-19 red setting and protests

Friday, 18 February 2022

Trang Vu, co-owner of Willi’s Kitchen on Manners St in Wellington, says even without the added pressure of a nearby occupation, the eatery is still doing it tough.

Businesses in capital are being burned by the red glow of the traffic light system, and the protest at Parliament is adding insult to injury.

Hospitality and retail providers in downtown Wellington say the demonstration is killing foot traffic at a time when people are scared to go out or are opting to work from home.

The protest, which is broadly against vaccine mandates, is into its 12th day, with participants occupying the lawn at Parliament, the camp blocks nearby streets in the immediate vicinity.

Lou Zijun owns Sakura Sushi on Lambton Quay, around the corner from the edge of the protest camp. He said his takings had been down 50 per cent since the country moved into red.

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Driver Toha Davidson has been harassed several times by protestors for wearing his mask.

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The few customers who had remained in town were working remotely to avoid the protests.

“The protest has been blocking traffic and public transport, so more people are staying home.”

Molesworth St running between Parliament, left, and the Victoria University of Wellington Law School, right, lined with protester vehicles early on day 11 of the protest in the capital.

Jordan Leak is a store manager at New Zealand Drycleaners on upper Molesworth St – a few minutes walk from Parliament. He said the streets were noticeably quieter, and business had dropped off under the red light setting.

“It’s been made worse by the [protest] stuff going on the street for sure. We’ve had customers in the store leave in a hurry when protestors have come in asking to get their clothes cleaned. They’ve felt intimidated.”

Toha Davidson, driver for Laundry Drop Drycleaners, does delivery runs up Molesworth St most days. He said the protest camp had become a huge hindrance.

Jacinda Ardern said what was happening 'is illegal, we're all clear on that'.

“Because I can’t use Molesworth, it makes life hard. In the afternoons [when there is more traffic] it can take an extra 20 minutes to get up here. As a Wellingtonian, I’m disappointed. They’re so selfish. You can have your protest, but keep off the road.”

Beyond blocking his usual route, protesters had hassled him three times for wearing a mask.

Both Lou and Leak said customers should turn to their phones and keyboards if they wanted to support local businesses, but felt uncomfortable being near the crowds. Using services like Uber Eats or the drycleaner’s pick-up and delivery service would help keep them going.

While unaffected by the protests, bar owner Jose Ubiaga was unequivocal in his assessment of the Government’s traffic light system.

“The thing is, it doesn’t look bright. There’s no timeline and no plan. We’re just expected to get on with it indefinitely – people have seen the Government’s message and are staying home. They’re scared to come out.

“If this goes on for another six weeks, we’re going to start seeing places shut down.”

Ubiaga, who owns The Residence, Dakota Bar and The Establishment, began laying staff off and reducing hours two weeks ago.

He said business was down 35 per cent in the first week of the red setting. Last week it was down about 60 per cent.

He felt the best thing that could happen for hospitality was for Omicron to spread. “The sooner we hit the peak, the closer we’ll be to coming out the other side. I’m not holding my breath for any assistance from the Government.”

Trang Vu co-owns Willi’s Kitchen on Manners St, well away from the protests. She said even without the added pressure of a nearby occupation, the eatery was still doing it tough.

“Business was down 25 per cent after the first lockdown, and after red it’s been down another 35 or 40 per cent on top of that.

“We've been unable to pay ourselves – we’ve had to dip into our personal savings over the last two weeks. If we keep going like this we could have to close by the end of February.”

In a social media post, she appealed to customers to come into town and support local businesses.

“Life is so tough and it's just heartbreaking. We are on edge,” she said.

On Friday, WellingtonNZ announced it was launching a range of promotional initiatives to help boost CBD retail and hospitality businesses, while mayor Andy Foster and leaders from the city’s business community said they had written to Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash requesting urgent financial support “in a period of unprecedented hardship”.