However retailers felt the campaign was working, coupled with signs they had placed in their stores asking customers not to give money to beggars.
"Before we would have about six sitting along the street, today there's nobody. It was a real concern, we were really quite worried."
She said the Marewa shopping centre, and their business were very busy in the lead-up to Christmas, and she thought had beggars still been around this could have impacted sales.
"I'm feeling positive that this campaign they're doing is working."
A Napier CBD store manager said she had noticed an increase in beggar numbers in the CBD, but the monitoring of them had also increased, which had reduced the number of incidents.
Kelly - who did not want her last name, or business used - said ahead of Christmas beggars had been appearing more regularly, and earlier in the day.
Customers still talked about the "ugly presence" in town, but her business was not as badly impacted as it used to be.
There were not as many "public nuisance" issues anymore, and they did not loiter near her store anymore - after a run-in with a young CBD worker, "I said I had zero tolerance, and they needed to take it somewhere else".
Yesterday Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said having beggars in the street was "not a perfect situation, but we're doing everything we can... to ensure we can find them a better way of living".
"They are citizens and they have rights. Although I think they're an appalling look for our city we have to say that they're just a reality."
Security patrols - which began around August - will be ramped up during the weekend as shoppers make a last dash to the CBD for Christmas presents.
Council manager community strategies Natasha Carswell said patrols would be returning to normal on Sunday. They will continue throughout the summer.
She said there had been an improvement in the number of those begging on the street - down to a core group of about four or five people. There had also not been any recent begging complaints from retailers.
"Our local Helping Hands education campaign is in full swing and going well. We are also about to embark on some additional education and information aimed at those cruise ship passengers coming to the CBD to sightsee and shop," she said.
"Two beggars have also recently been housed which is great news."
A cross-agency effort - including police and social agencies - is continuing to help vulnerable and high-risk community members.
- People are encouraged to give any Christmas Cheer to:
Whatever it Takes Trust (Outreach Service)
Bank Account: 02-0700-0080443-00
Napier Community Foodbank Trust
Bank Account: 02-0766-0026618-02
Salvation Army
Bank Account: 02-0700-0013128-00
Christian Lovelink (Furniture and household goods)
Bank Account: 03-1355-068464-00