Jingle Tills: How is the lead up to Christmas on Wellington’s Golden Mile?

Thursday, 5 December 2024

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In the fourth article of a five-part series, Wellington reporter Frances Chin takes a look at how retail is tracking on the Golden Mile, the once pre-eminent shopping Mecca of Wellington.

Monday morning finds the Golden Mile a little bit empty. But, there, across the street ‒ a woman is walking with a Just Jeans shopping bag. Nature is healing.

Once the jewel in our retail diadem, the capital’s shopping strip has been fairly tarnished, with data from Worldline showing that Wellington experienced a -0.9 decline in core retail spending from 2023 to 2024.

The pandemic, road works, and the rise of hybrid-remote working has left the once bustling shopping centre a shell of its former self.

But, with the return of workers to the city, foot traffic is slowly starting to rise again, with multiple Golden Mile retailers telling The Post that, while not as busy as it was before, shoppers were slowly returning to the street.

Laine Ruscoe, owner of streetwear store Statement, said he has been seeing more shoppers along the Golden Mile.

The Government pushing public servants to return to the office had helped improve foot traffic, he said.

“We definitely noticed that over the last the whole month, traffic has definitely picked up a lot since they've introduced that.”

He said Christmas foot traffic usually started to pick up around this time of year, in early December.

While the shopping scene was not as busy as it usually was this time of year, it came in dips and waves, he said.

“It’s nowhere near as busy as it used to be.”

Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said foot traffic was “critical” for retail, so having people working and commuting into the city made a world of difference.

“Traffic is really critical to be able to convert to sale. If you don't have people passing by your store, then they're not going to come in, right?”

She had been hearing foot traffic was slowly increasing in Wellington, but was approaching it with caution.

“From a retail perspective, we'd like to see those numbers continue. So we're just keeping our fingers crossed that the pressure continues for people to be back in the office so that retailers can thrive in that environment.”

What’s on Willis staff member Susie Auker said the store had seen a fair number of shoppers come through. While people hadn’t really started shopping for Christmas yet, she said it was good to see them come in.

Previously, antisocial behaviour in the area had driven customers away, but Auker said the police patrols in the area had helped immensely.

However, Wellington Collective staff Lakshmi Singh said the Lambton Quay store was still quiet on weekdays, with people mostly coming in around lunchtime.

The other stores on Featherston St and in Cuba Mall had been busy over the past few months, but definitely less busy than last year, she said.

She said people were currently browsing, but weren’t really preparing for Christmas yet.

Is Black Friday bigger than the Boxing Day sales?

New Zealand spent more than $175.6 million over the Black Friday weekend, with several retailers in the capital saying the early December sales were bigger than Boxing Day now.

Fran, who works at Farrys, a menswear popup on Lambton Quay, said she thought the Black Friday sales were bigger than Boxing Day sales now.

“We have ups and downs in retail and but it has been like that for a little while. But I'm thrilled with Black Friday and especially I think its great to see all the people shopping.”

She said business, while not as busy as it used to be, was steady along the Golden Mile. While during the middle of the week it was “dead,” she said the Government bringing back their workers to the city had made a difference.

“You can just get a random really busy day, and then it can be dead. So you can't really predict any more.”

Lovisa staff Grace Fellows and Mea Singh said they were extremely busy for the Black Friday sales.

While there were not as many customers as there had been the previous year, Singh ‒ who is the assistant manager at the Lambton Quay store ‒ said the last few weeks had been busy, with about 10 staff on, compared with their usual three.

She said it seemed like foot traffic was beginning to return to the city, although having less cruise ships was a definite blow.

“I think it’s definitely slowly improving.”

Shoppers were out and about along the street, she said, and the recent Black Friday sales had been extremely busy for the stores ‒ even bigger than Christmas, she said.

Retail NZ’s Young said she had spoken to some of the bigger brands about Black Friday, and they had seen mixed results.

People were looking to spend less money and, while the sales had seen high demand, the average sale price was down by 17% compared with the normal retail price which more items needed to be sold.

“But it’s good to see that we've managed to pick up some positive engagement over the weekend, especially in the Wellington region.”

When asked if the Black Friday sales were now bigger than the Boxing Day sales, Young said it would depend on how the lead up to Christmas went.

The capital usually got quiet around Christmas as most people left the city, so the success of the Boxing Day sales depended on what specials were on offer and whether there was a cruise ship in town.

“This year, the cruise ship numbers are down. So it's also going to play a part in total sales as we go through the summer period.”