UC research to find where Christchurch CBD retailers went
UC research looking to find where Christchurch CBD
retailers went to
August 25,
2013
A University of Canterbury (UC)
postgraduate student is investigating what has happened to
355 businesses in Christchurch’s core inner city area.
The businesses were members of the Central City
Business Association set up to help promote and develop the
central city retail area, in the face of stiff competition
from the big malls.
Tracy Hatton, who is heading
the project, will give a presentation to the Resilient
Organisations Symposium at UC on Tuesday (August
27).
The symposium is open to the public and
representatives from the Canterbury Earthquake Authority
(CERA) and the Christchurch City Council plus people from
Auckland and Wellington organisations will be attending.
Hatton’s study involves tracking individual
businesses and will provide details about whether those
businesses have relocated, downsized, or ceased to trade.
``My preliminary analysis shows that 15 percent of
businesses have not relocated or reopened new stores but
have simply downsized with fewer stores in Christchurch than
before the earthquakes. This demonstrates the advantages of
larger businesses with diversified locations.
``A second part of the study will investigate the
stories behind the numbers with interviews carried out with
businesses that have ceased trading in Christchurch seeking
to understand what circumstances they faced and the choices
they made.
``I will also look at how many
organisations actually fail or how many choose to exit.
Inland Revenue figures, reported by CERA, show that around
10,000 new businesses have been registered in Canterbury
since September 2010.
``I want to know how many
of the businesses that cannot be found are actually these
new business with new names and locations.
``Research to date also shows that there are many
businesses that have managed to sustain themselves for more
than two years with plans still in progress to reopen their
businesses, indicating that length of closure is not
necessarily an indicator of likely resumption of trading.
``How these organisations who are still closed but
plan to resume manage to sustain themselves in the interim
will be part of the information hoped to be gained by
interviewing business owners.
``Preliminary results
from stage one of the study including the number of
relocations and probable cessations will be discussed at the
symposium where the latest research on creating resilient
organisations will be showcased.’’
Hatton is
seeking to speak to Christchurch business owners who were in
the central business district before the 2010 and 20111
earthquakes. She can be contacted at tracy.hatton@pg.canterbury.ac.nz.
ENDS