Shops extend hours as holiday nears

ON THE LIST: The Wooden Toy Box manager Brian Godfrey is keeping the store open until 8pm each Thursday night in the lead-up to Christmas.PHOTO/JOHN BORREN

Official late night shopping is reserved for chain stores and malls in Tauranga but demand will dictate whether local owners keep the doors open longer in the lead-up to Christmas.

Tauranga Mainstreet co-ordinator Karena Mattson and former Mount Mainstreet manager Leanne Brown said attempts at late night shopping in the city centre and Mount Maunganui had failed in previous years.

Unless all the retailers took part you ended up with "something that's a half-pie event," Ms Mattson told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend.

This year only Farmers would be open late nights in downtown Tauranga, including five nights until 10pm or 11pm. Ms Mattson said she was encouraging other city centre retailers to open longer than normal, until about 6pm, but only a couple had confirmed so far.

"The larger chain ones, they have their Christmas trading hours, they all come from head office," she said.

It was likely some owner-operators in the downtown would open unofficial lenient hours, closing around 5.30pm or 6pm in the lead-up to Christmas, she said.

Manager of The Wooden Toy Box in Durham St, Brian Godfrey, said the store was opening until 8pm each Thursday night this month.

"I think shoppers still want it. They want the chance to come in without the stress and without the kids," he said.

"People ask us all the time and, because of the difficulty of mums getting the time off and shopping without the kids, we thought we'd help out our customers."

He had advertised the late night in newspapers but also through the store's online customer database.

Mount Mainstreet manager Peter Melgren said a lot of the retailers in the shopping centre were owner operators who had a small staff.

"We do seven days a week, that's enough for our lot," he said.

The Mount's 18 gift and boutique shops made it a daytime shopping destination, he said.

"We've got a point of difference that can't be matched."

Owner of the Gilded Edge in Mount Maunganui, Annette Ball, said they would be at the store "at least until 6pm those last two weeks."

Whether they stayed open until 6.30pm or 7pm would be dependent on the shopping public, she said.

Bethlehem Town Centre marketing manager Leanne Brown said centre retailers were open for normal trading hours. However, if store owners wished to open for extended hours, they were welcome to.

Greerton Village Mainstreet acting manager Carol Garden said while there were no specific late night shopping hours for the village, some retailers were choosing to open longer.