Businesses reopen, expand in Timaru

With businesses closing in Timaru’s Stafford St, remaining business owners are doing their best to keep the heart of the CBD ticking.

Kidstuff owner Dorothy Tucker and the business’ marketing manager, daughter Kaitlyn Tucker, recently saw an opportunity to expand their retail offering on learning Biddy’s Antiques was departing Variety Lane and its main street shop.

‘‘Dorothy had an epiphany when she saw the space was coming available,’’ Kaitlyn said. ‘‘There used to be a doorway [from the Kidstuff premises to the Variety Lane store] and she thought, ‘why not expand?’

‘‘With so many closing down, we thought we’d take the opportunity to grow the business.

‘‘We felt it would be a good opportunity to give us more space to spread out for display. Sometimes with buggies in the main store, it can feel congested.’’

The expansion required access to be built from the main store into the Variety Lane premises which now had racks of clothing and accessories for sale with a formal opening planned for today. ‘‘We thrived in Covid and worked hard. We decided ‘let’s make it work for us,’ and it’s been going in our favour. We hope to get busier and busier.’’

Dorothy started the business 22 years ago when she said there were between eight and 11 empty shops along Stafford St in the block between George St and Strathallan corner. ‘‘They all filled up, but one by one they’re emptying. There are 11 empty shops now.’’

She remained optimistic. ‘‘I’m feeling positive that people will keep coming and supporting local.’’

‘‘We’ve got to give them a reason to come into town,’’ Kaitlyn said.

On the other side of Variety Lane, Armadillos restaurant had reopened after being closed for almost a year, during which time the business still had to pay rent. South Island Hospitality Group marketing manager Tom Crosbie said staff shortages brought about by Covid-19 forced the closure.

‘‘We struggled to find staff, and we ended up not having a chef and front of house staff. We didn’t want it to affect both our Timaru businesses, so we focussed on the Richard Pearse [Tavern]. It’s been a pretty tough 12 months.

‘‘But now we’ve seen a turn with staffing. More applicants are coming through, and opening up the borders helped.’’

The restaurant now had six staff members and was opening from 11.30am to late, from Wednesday to Sunday.

Timaru CBD Group chairperson Allan Booth said the rejuvenation of the south end of Stafford St would be driven by the Theatre Royal redevelopment. ‘‘It’s also encouraging Briscoes has decided to stay and not head to the northern part of Timaru.’’

Briscoe Group had expressed a desire to have its two brands, Briscoes Homeware, currently in Evans St near Ashbury Park, and Rebel Sport, now in Stafford St, under one roof and was in talks to relocate them to The Showgrounds retail complex.

However, last week Briscoe Group managing director Rod Duke said The Showgrounds proposal was not proceeding. The company was considering whether to have its two stores on the Evans St site or stick to the status quo.