RETAIL SHOPS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 135, 4 December 1929, Page 14

RETAIL SHOPS

ARE THEY TOO MANY?

DRAPERY TRADE OPINION

"Evening Post," 4th December,

Those not in retail business cannot but have noticed the ever-increasing number of new lock-up shops in Wellington, completed yet empty—and more under construction in the city and suburbs. The position is somewhat similar in Auckland, and public attention is drawn to it by the "New Zealand Draper,'' representative of the drapery, clothing, and boot retail trade of the Dominion. This well-inform-ed- journal remarks: —

'.. Visit any part of Auckland to-day and you'll find more shops being built. Why, no brie seems-to know, for there are scores standing empty. :And we Suppose the same thing applies in most towns and cities in the Dominion. Jt seems almost as

though some builders, when they finish a jpb, buy a bit of land.and say "Let's build more shops." The economic law of supply and demand doesn't seem to enter into the case at a!!. There is land and here is the builder out or a job. The result is a row of nathetic shops that, as likely as not, display nothing but -To Let" notices lot-months at a stretch.

The subject was dealt with by the London • Economist," which regarded the question -whether the number and variety or retail shops is redundant as one of considerable economic importance. Too many shops with too much competition can be as great an evil as too few, states the Economist." An excessive number of eliops means that each one has too small a turnover out of which to earn its fixed charges and so means that retail prices rule higher than they would under an ideal number. On the other hand, to have Too tew shops means public inconvenience, inadequate competition, and once more high retail prices due to the existence of a partial monopoly. Clearly, therefore «je Tvhole question is one of proportion or • j °S?\ -i e? e must be an ideal number and distribution of shops, which, if attained, would best serve the interests of traders, producers, manufacturers, and the general public. Retail prices might be li thir^ P<T bly ri tail Profits WgHer! lo thfpopul^ion"" Sh° PS in Pr°P°rti°° It should be someone's function, the >.ejv Zealand Draper" insists, to say vbether or not shops should be erected ».any givenlo cality, apart altogether from o"emn'tJ t. ps}'?h°l°g,lca) effect of a lot y SwicS." aUd the ~iG Iteence. of the Federation of Drap els ffelSg?^^a^^:tob^