Shaky time for retail sales

Christchurch retailers are praying quake-rattled Cantabrians will return to the shops after Saturday's earthquake slashed eftpos sales in the region by a third.

It is feared smaller, recession-weakened retailers forced to close by the quake will not survive.

Eftpos provider Paymark, which processes more than 75 per cent of all electronic card transactions in New Zealand, said card spending over the weekend in Canterbury was down $8.1 million or 32 per cent on last year.

Eftpos was unavailable in some stores shortly after the quake, including petrol stations. Those hardest hit by the drop in card sales included retailers who traditionally did well out of Father's Day, such as gift and electronics stores.

Jill McDavitt, owner of Haydn's Menswear and Boys Schoolwear in the Bush Inn Centre, in upper Riccarton, said all stores in the centre were closed on Saturday – traditionally a big day.

Sales on the day before Father's Day were usually double those of previous Saturdays, but the store's turnover for Saturday to Tuesday was about a third down on that for previous weeks, she said. "We had a `It's not too late to show dad some love on Father's Day' [advertisement] in The Press on Saturday which of course was a complete waste of time because we were shut."

Damage to her shop had been minimal.

"Being menswear, it was just things falling off shelves. Nothing broke."

The area had escaped the worst of the quake, she said.

"There are a lot of people whose lives are completely unaffected and they're just going about their business."

The menswear store would survive the disaster but others might not be so lucky, she said.

"For those that are still shut – all the businesses in town – I would say no. But we've been weathering the recession ... and I'm hoping in the next week people will come out and decide that they do need a bit of menswear."

Sok Bae, owner of Bishopdale Giftware, said the store had only reopened yesterday and business had been very slow.

The shop usually did quite well out of Father's Day – selling gifts and cards – but was now counting the cost of damaged stock, which Bae estimated to be about $10,000.

Not all retailers were licking their wounds.

Snehal Patel, owner of the city centre's Welcome Dairy, said it had sustained little to no damage and remained open since the quake.

Much of the central city was damaged and many CBD dwellers had been coming to the dairy for supplies, particularly milk and water, he said.

"We've had three times as many people in than we usually do. There aren't many places open."

Paymark said sales in Canterbury on Saturday were down 43 per cent on last year while sales on Sunday dropped 18 per cent. The result follows a tough August for Canterbury retailers with eftpos sales down 0.6 per cent year on year.

Central City Business Association spokesman Paul Lonsdale has said the closure of the inner city could affect between 40,000 and 50,000 workers, and some retailers that had been struggling during the recession might never reopen.

- © Fairfax NZ News