Rollercoaster ride for Kaikohe's Warehouse staff

The Warehouse in Kaikohe is staying open after all.

Workers at Kaikohe's Warehouse have had a rough couple of days.

One minute their jobs were gone and The Warehouse was closing. There were various staff numbers mentioned - 60 jobs at one point.

But when the dust settled 33 permanent full and part-time staff were at risk of having their lives turned upside down.

A lot can change in 24 hours though. On Wednesday, bad news. On Thursday, they were given good news - the business was staying open.

One worker was especially happy. He had just moved to Kaikohe, and got told on his first day he was going to be made redundant. Welcome to Northland.

The positive announcement came after NZ First MP Shane Jones had weighed into the debate, and media asked some obvious questions after conflicting stories emerged about why the business was closing.

The main reason given had been a breakdown in discussions around the business' lease, but it was difficult to tell where it broke down.

Somehow, now, those discussions have been resurrected and a new lease is being negotiated.

Whether there are other changes remains to be seen but there are roughly 20 to 30 Kaikohe families a lot happier today than they were on Wednesday.

This is a town where jobs are valued and not everyone who might want a job, has one. Kaikohe is, to not put too finer point on it, Northland's poorest town.

The nine points that are used to calculate a town's position on Northland's "deprevation index" are questionable.

The index calculation taken into account the usual things - income, employment, home ownership, transport.

And yet, almost a quarter of the population speak two languages, surely that counts for something toward a town's richness?

Kaikohe has had some challenges over the past decade or so.

The Warehouse's closure would be disastrous for this small town, and not because everyone would be deprived of a bargain.