Main street Raetihi fighting back

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 294, 11 July 1989, Page 10

Main street Raetihi fighting back

Recently The Ruapehu Bulletin ran a survey on Raetihi business, following a similar one on Ohakune.

The survey was, again, aimed at finding out the general feeling of shoppers rather than gathering "hard statistics". The results seem to show that, while most people are happy with prices and range of goods available in Raetihi, they feel the town has been dealt a number of severe blows. Most people accept that the decisions made affecting Raetihi's business heart over the past two years are due to no fault of Raetihi people but were made at city head offices. Questions All the people who answered the question

"where are you from?" said they were from Raetihi, but more than half the questionnaires came back with no answer to the first question on our survey sheet. Almost all people said they shopped both in Raetihi and out of town, with about a third saying they also shopped in Ohakune. Half said they also shopped in Wanganui, and a few said they also shopped in places such as Taumarunui, Taupo, Auckland and by mailorder. Half said they shopped out of town because of price and more than two thirds because of range of

goods offered. People mentioned hardware, linen, clothes, groceries and banking as reasons for going out of Raetihi. Range and prices When asked what people thought of the Raetihi shop's range of goods offered,- half said the range was adequate, a third said good, some said very good and a few said poor to very poor. A third said Raetihi prices were fair, a third said they were high, and a few said they were very high. One person thought Raetihi prices were cheap. Raetihi's quality of service rates highly, with a third of the people we asked saying service was very good, half saying it was good and the rest (just a few) saying it was adequate. We asked what people thought of the range of services (eg repairs, plumbers, electricians etc) available here in Raetihi and half said it was ok, a third said it was good or very good and a minority said it was poor to very poor. Half said the price of services were fair, nearly half said high and a few said very high. Only one person commented on prices and they said they were "as expected in a small town". The quality of service rated high again with

almost half saying it was good, a few saying it was very good and a third saying it was adequate. A small number said it was poor. Just two comments came back about service: "very slow" and "you have to wait a long time for most plumbers..." Top shops The top five shops, mentioned as giving the best service, were Price's Pharmacy then Dowman's Four Square, McLean's Bookshop, Fredericksen's IGA Foodmaster, and Robin's Nest.

Almost all replies stated they had heard of the Raetihi Businessmen's Association but very few people answered the question "what do they aim to do?", which made the results of the next question seem a little strange. We asked "do you think they are succeeding?" and most who answered (just over half answered the question) said "no". ( We wondered how they know if they're succeeding or not if they don't know what the RBA aims to do?). Comments on the

Association' s aims included "to improve the town" "promotion" "help us shop locally" "keep people shopping in Raetihi" "help the town" Comments on whether they are succeeding included "yes ie funding of main street gardens to improve appearance", "trying", "no, they don't appear to have a united vision", "struggling along I think". Almost all had heard of the Ruapehu South Business Association. Comments Finally, we asked for any further general comments on Raetihi business. Many people commented negatively on the closing of Farmers and the downgrading of the BNZ and NZ Post, the shifting of local body administration to Ohakune, and the loss of Postbank. Among other comments were: "we need another clothing shop for the working class people", "(the recent closures etc means) Raetihi businesses have obviously got many things stacked against them through no fault of their own", "Because Farmers have closed we have not got the variety a small town should have. It is very unfair to the community. As far as the local Post Office is concerned that is beyond a joke." "(the closures) have

cast an unfair image on the town", "Most businesses try very hard to keep everything that is required by local people but due to the economic down-turn they cannot afford to bring in large amounts of stock as they don't have the money coming in fast enough", "Farmers left us in the lurch when we needed them most", "(since the closures) it is becoming necessary to shop out of town for more every day things. Now that people have

to go to Ohakune to get their money they tend to spend it there. These decisions were made in the city, not in our own community", "(Raetihi businesses are) friendly. There is not always a willingness to get goods in which aren't ordinarily available", "Most (businesses) give the impression that to survive is enough without wanting to get ahead. The main shopping area needs sprucing up".

"These decisions were made in the city, not in our own community"