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Upmarket bars and restaurants are shrugging off fears of a recession with renovations stretching into the millions of dollars.
Plush new decor will soon adorn Auckland eatery Kermadec and a 600-patron bar and restaurant complex at Victoria Park.
Ponsonby restaurant Prohibition opened with a multimillion-dollar fit-out this month. And the Herald understands the Loaded Hog at the Viaduct is also in line for renovation.
This year has been tough for some in the hospitality industry, with rain, rising living costs and specials on supermarket beer and wine conspiring to keep people at home.
July figures from Statistics New Zealand show cafe and restaurant sales held up well (bars and clubs actually increased their take by 12 per cent year on year). But Sara Tucker, the Hospitality Association's Northern regional manager, said anecdotal reports suggested winter business was down 20 per cent for some restaurants.
Those at the high end of the restaurant trade say they may be better placed to withstand the slump.
Richard Sigley, whose Nourish Group owns Euro and the Jervois Steakhouse, said mainstream outlets were being squeezed as people with modest discretionary income cut down on eating out. For people earning at the upper end, though, it was "more like they have to be seen to be going out".
Mr Sigley said sales at Euro were up on this time last year.
However he said those renovating would be "a little bit concerned" because "it's a difficult market at the best of times, and these are difficult times".
Those spending money on decor say it will give them an edge in a challenging market.
Luke Dallow, proprietor of the Chapel Bar in Ponsonby, said he was confident about his "seven digit" fit-out at Victoria Park's Sale St.
The seven-area, 1000sq m venue will include at least two bars, a restaurant, a private lounge and a micro-brewery.
Mr Dallow said, judging from experience in 1987, alcohol sales increased in a depression _ albeit with fewer champagne sales.
He said the variety on offer at Sale St would attract regular folk, rather than high-end crowds, when it opened in two weeks.
"In a depression [people] want to get away from the bad news of the world and go into another environment where it's positive.
"[But] they're looking for value for money."
The manager of three-week-old Ponsonby restaurant Prohibition, Pascal King, acknowledged it was a "very difficult time" to be opening. He said he had raised the issue of the economic climate with the restaurant's Russian owners. But he too was confident there was a market for fine dining, particularly in Auckland. "People are not just staying home and cooking dinner ... There are people who can ... dine out every night, especially on Ponsonby Rd."
