‘Holding on by a fingernail’: The crisis hitting one of the world's coolest streets

Thursday, 25 June 2026

Karangahape Rd businesses insist the famous Auckland street is still vibrant and alive after a spree of closures.

In the last year, several well-known businesses have closed on the street, including Flying Out, Verona, and Sri Pinang.

Owners say it is always sad seeing businesses close, but they still believe in the street as a happening place.

It is one of the most famous streets in New Zealand and four years ago was even named among the world’s coolest streets, but recent times have been tough for Karangahape Rd.

In the past year, the Auckland Central street affectionately known as “K Rd” has been beset by a series of business closures, some of which have adorned the area for decades.

In May, 2025, Bar Celeste announced its closure after nearly six years, while in December, the much-loved Malaysian restaurant Sri Pinang closed its doors after 35 years.

Things have only gotten worse in 2026, with watering hole Charlie’s bar closing in February, followed by the liquidation of Verona in April.

In May, the annual Others Way Festival was also cancelled for the foreseeable future, having taken place along K Rd since 20215.

Then there was the day of doom just last week, with record store Flying Out announcing it was done after 11 years - a closure that was swiftly followed by the news that music venue Neck of the Woods was also shutting its doors.

A campaign to save Neck of the Woods has since raised over $150,000, handing the popular venue a potential lifeline; however, the spree of closures has had a chilling effect on the K Rd community.

Lucy Macrae, owner of music venues Whammy Bar and Double Whammy, said that watching neighbouring businesses close was “felt across the community”.

“Of course, it’s tough to watch neighbouring businesses close. These are friends, collaborators and part of the fabric that makes Karangahape Rd what it is,” she told Stuff on Thursday.

At the same time, Macrae said the “spirit and mana” of K Rd is still alive, and it remains “one of the most vibrant, diverse and culturally significant places” in Auckland.

“The people who live, work and create here care deeply about the place. It’s a community of people actively trying to make Auckland a better, more interesting and more inclusive city.”

Macrae said recent closures on K Rd were a sign of a “much deeper” structural problem and the ongoing impact of the post-Covid recovery.

“Many small businesses are effectively holding on by a fingernail,” she said. “If we want vibrant, safe and thriving cities, we need to back them with real investment.”

“Communities like Karangahape Rd don’t thrive on goodwill alone - they need policies and investment that support small businesses, arts, culture and the people who make these places special,” she said.

Keelan Bowkett-Assaf, the co-owner of the Lebanese Grocer, told Stuff it was “definitely sad” to see nearby businesses close.

“Every time it happens it affects the whole street, because everyone here is trying their best to make something special.”

Bowkett-Assaf said she doesn’t think the closures have taken away from what K Rd is, though, adding that there are “still so many incredible businesses” worth visiting and supporting.

She said he hopes people don’t write off K Rd just yet, and that it’s important to support the places you love.

“People are still pouring everything they have into their cafes, restaurants, bars and shops, and that deserves to be recognised.

“Has it been a tough few years? Absolutely. I think every small business would say that, whether they’re on K Rd or not. But we still believe in K Rd,” she said.

Meanwhile, Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick said the closures on K Rd were a “microcosm” of what was happening around the country.

Speaking to Stuff on Thursday, the Green Party co-leader said locally-owned businesses were “under threat” through rising costs and customers not having the money to spend.

She said the country had to ask itself whether “we’re happy on this pathway towards paving paradise and putting up a parking lot”.

Swarbrick, who worked at Neck of the Woods before her career in politics, said last week that the recent closures did not happen in a vacuum and that greater investment was needed in local communities such as K Rd.

“That means economic settings that genuinely invest in ourselves, our infrastructure, our capacity, our jobs, our creativity, our events, our spaces,” she said.