Nicola Cranfield: Cranfields owner blames Wellington transport project for store closure

Upmarket Wellington homewares store Cranfields will continue to trade - but might move out of the capital.

The shop's closure was announced months ago, with owner Nicola Cranfield blaming uncertainty around the Golden Mile transport project, to effectively ban cars from a number of central city streets.

The store is now looking for new premises.

Nicola Cranfield says she's had a conversation with Hastings Council.

"I was curious to know whether they were about to wrap up all those streets and remove parking and bring in a lot of cones. Fortunately, they laughed and said - why would we do that to our retailers? That was heartening."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bit of good retail news for you. Back in April,
the Wellington retail the Cranfields, announced their closure. Thirty three
years of trading in the capitol, all set to end
over the removal of those car parks in the city
of the Golden Mile gets to Wellington, moving all that
to Barkle. Well, apparently it's not over till a tiber.
Cramfield's owner, Nicola Cranfield, is with us. Nicol a very
good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good morning mate.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Are you are you Oh? No, no, great pleasure. Are
you back? And if you're back, in what form? Are
you back?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
We're currently operating online only and that's scouting around for
new premises.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
You're right, and people have been fed back and gone, look,
you can't leave us in the loops.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
We were overwhelmed the response. It's just been phenomenal. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Indeed, So what do you think if you could find
a place, a physical presence bricks and watar you would
take it?

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Is it hard to find?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
It's quite elusive.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Yeah, because you want them, you'd want the area, presumably.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
I want the area and just good access and and
I really need to work with a council. That's I
guess not hostile to business in small business.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Well, you might have run into a small speed bump
in that particular department, many many others in the in
the similar predicament. I mean, what's the issue is how
much of it's the economy versus how much of it's
a council and the rules and the Golden Mile and
parking and all that stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Look, it's really all about wanting to work with counsel
and even central government. We've just the last seven years
it just feels like the policy after policy has been
really anti business sentiment. So I've just I'm just quite exhausted,
I guess, And so I'm looking around. It might not

(01:41):
be Wellington. I've had a conversation with Hastings Council and
I was curious to know whether they're about to wrap
up all their streets and remove parking and bring in
a lot of cones. And fortunately they laughed and said no,
why would we do that to our retailers, So that
was heartening.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Those are the sort of things you don't really think
about when you've been a business a long time. Like you,
it's sort of that future, what are they going to do?
How are they going to do it? You know, you
don't see it coming, do you, And then suddenly the
ideology takes over, and then it's all on exactly.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
You're quite vulnerable. But I've learned that, and I guess
that was why I was reluctant to sign another lease
and my current premises. Because when you sign a commercial
lease that's a personal guarantee of your house is on
the line. You're pretty exposed and you can control only
so much. I can control what I buy and I
can do my promotions. But if all of a sudden

(02:34):
all your access is removed and there's a sea of
cones outside your store and there's chaos and there's noise,
then that people are just not going to visit us exactly.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Well, I wish you all the very Bestiam will stay
in touch and see where you end up. So hastings
could be coming to your place. Cranfield's wonderful operator has
been for years. Nicola Cranfield, the owner of Cranfield's.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
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Speaker 1 (02:56):
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