Cantabrians Slowly Starting the Financial Rebound

Cantabrian retailers are slowly starting to rebound from the quake that shook the region 12 days ago according to figures from Paymark, which show that 96 per cent of the 9,000 merchants in the regions most severely damaged areas are trading as normal.

Paymark Head of Sales and Marketing, Paul Whiston, says that this statistic, as well as data released today about spending in the region, provides a good snapshot of what life in Canterbury is like at the moment and where priorities lie.

Getting homes and businesses back up and running has taken top priority in Canterbury we can definitely see this reflected in the figures, with home decorating/building supplies up 11 per cent year-on-year, and appliance stores also up 16 per cent year-on-year, says Whiston.

With retailers and families alike focusing much of their efforts on the re-build, a shift in the way Cantabrians are spending their discretionary income has also emerged - movie-going excursions (- 94 per cent year-on-year) have been passed over in favour of in-home movies rented from the local video shop (+ 63 per cent year-on-year) and restaurant/bar meals (- 24 per cent year-on-year) for dining in.

The must-have categories, including service stations and supermarkets have experienced sales increases of 12 and 17 per cent respectively when compared to the same period last year.

Not all sectors are rebounding quite so quickly many categories outside those providing priority products/services were down compared to the same period last year. Amongst the worst affected are apparel stores (- 47 per cent), footwear stores (- 44 per cent) gardening stores (- 29 per cent) and auto parts/accessory stores (-21 per cent).

Things have been tough for retailers in the region - on the day of the quake, Canterbury dropped $6.2 million in sales, and another $9 million in the seven days following. For a small percentage, the quake has resulted in a complete trading standstill, says Whiston.

Day-by-day annual percentage change data for the period 5 - 11 September does show some improvement - sales were down 18 per cent on the first Sunday post-earthquake and -11 per cent the next Sunday (compared to the same days in 2009). This was similar for Monday trading, down 12 per cent directly after the quake and -7 per cent the following Monday (also compared to the same days in 2009).

ENDS

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