Photo: ( RNZ / Ian Telfer )
Changing shopping habits and flat turnover in the retail sector is resulting in an increasing number of vacant shops. The most recent statistics from Retail NZ show turnover was sluggish in the second quarter of this year, with more than half of its members failing to hit their sales targets. It has been a been consistent downward trend over last 18 months, in the Whangarei CBD alone there are more than 50 empty shops. To look at why the retail sector is struggling to keep up with the changing habits of shoppers, and what can be done about it -, Kathryn talks to Retail NZ's CEO Greg Harford, the CEO from the Northland Chamber of Commerce Steve Smith and Steve Canny from the Southland Regional Development Agency - Great South.
