[ad_1]
Businesses are widely feeling the impact of Auckland’s third city center closure in a year.
The city went from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2 yesterday morning, but as restaurants, shops and office buildings opened their doors, Aucklandites stayed away with a company reporting there was not a single customer. during two hours.
On Friday afternoon the central city of Auckland would normally be crowded. But after a turbulent week for these city businesses, stores are empty despite the move to alert level 2.
Container vendors on Elliott Street would normally sell coffee, donuts, and hamburgers. But today’s lunchtime looked like a ghost town.
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
Elliott Stables restaurant on Elliott Street in Auckland CBD.
READ MORE:
* Covid-19: Auckland Lantern Festival postponed until March
* Two young Americans ‘disguised as grandmothers’ to get vaccinated, says health official
* Covid-19: Sick for 330 days, American woman describes life locked up
* Covid-19: First ‘real world’ data shows vaccines kill two-thirds of infections
“It was very slow today, especially since we have been open for almost two hours and we have not had a customer yet, so business is not doing too well. said a sales worker.
Jonesy’s hot donuts, also on Elliott Street, echoed the same concerns.
“Since blocking it has been pretty quiet, before blocking we were doing a pretty good rotation, but after blocking we got about half capacity.
“Even at Elliott Stables we have noticed that the restaurants are gone and rented.”
Kimchi Project is a popular restaurant on the High Street.
The cafe’s manager, Charlie Lee, said that although Aucklanders below level 2 could sit in cafes and restaurants, people had stayed away.
“The customers are definitely much less than before, the city is quite quiet, the street is also quite quiet.”
Meanwhile, the owner of a convenience store just off Queen Street said desperate times meant he was struggling to pay the rent.
“It’s a disaster for us to be honest, the city was totally empty. We lost 90 percent of our usual income, even level 2 is now the same. People took the week off.” he said.
Dan Cook / RNZ
A quiet Auckland CBD during a pre-alert level 3 lockdown.
Heart of the City CEO Viv Beck said that while Alert Level 2 is significantly better than Level 3, it still has its challenges as workers continued or chose to stay home.
“From past Tier 3 experience, we know our spending can drop by as much as 90% for some businesses and that works out to an average of about $ 23 million a week in terms of core spend. Now there are other costs in addition to that, people have out of stock and incurred a variety of other costs, “Beck said.
“It is a very stressful situation for companies that go from level 1 to level 3 without more.” He had been meeting with business owners all day to listen to their concerns and provide support.
“It is certainly extremely difficult to talk to companies that are actually on a wire right now, their reserves are very low and it is an extremely stressful situation.
“I just heard from someone who is absolutely on the line, has had ongoing impacts from Covid and also from construction and really serious impacts. I’ve seen other restaurants go halfway and tell me they have reservations on the weekend. “
Beck had a message for clients in Auckland.
“Business is open, security protocols will be followed and we are really asking people to come back and enjoy the city center.”
With America’s Cup races resuming this weekend coupled with warm, sunny weather, these downtown businesses are expecting a much-needed boost to their bank accounts.
