Trade Aid, Conch, Homeland, Hiakai, Mina, Benjamin Alexander, Starving Artists Fund, Good Books, Flotsam and Jetsam, the army surplus store on Karangahape Road, The Pantograph Punch, Studio Red, A Little Shop, Rebecca O, Golden Yogi, Shepard, Thrift, Hej Hej, Maaike: it’s a bleak list of recent closures (or ‘hiatuses’), and it’s growing.
We are in recessionary, austerity and ‘hunkering down and hanging on’ times, but for many small local businesses across retail and hospitality, the challenges of the past few Covid years have become too hard and hunkering down is simply not possible. In the past month – even the past few weeks – news of closures have felt relentless, whether it’s a fashion brand, restaurant, yoga studio, boutique or big businesses like Newshub, Godfrey’s, TheMarket.com or Silvermoon. Right now opening Instagram can be fraught with the anxiety of possibly seeing another ‘we’re closing’ post.
Such news can bring up feelings of sadness, anxiety, anger, denial – a unique feeling of grief that is far from that of losing a loved one, but still a type of mourning. How to deal with what can feel like an onslaught of bad news, and how can you show your support?
Dr Lucy Hone, co-founder of grief programme Coping With Loss and a well-known expert on resilience, says she and her team have noticed an increase in demand for support across sectors. “That’s quite understandable because of the volume of job losses and we know, as researchers specialising in grief, that redundancy absolutely causes grief,” she says. “In fact, studies show there are many types of what are technically termed ‘non-death losses’ that can be every bit as devastating and destabilising as bereavement.”
That can extend to losing something you love or are familiar with – even something as seemingly frivolous as a favourite brand, restaurant or store. Averill Waters, clinical lead at the Grief Centre, agrees that any change can bring a sense of loss, whether small or large.
“The gravity of the grief associated with the loss will depend on the attachment to that which has been lost – and the ability to replace it,” says Waters. “The loss of a favourite restaurant or clothing store can bring a sense of impermanence as something people thought would always be there is no longer.” There may also be feelings of betrayal, insecurity, instability or fears for financial security.
“Humans grieve because we are hard-wired to cope but live in a world of impermanence and change,” says Dr Hone. "Grief is what you feel and experience when there’s a gap between your expectations and reality,” she says. “We yearn to help people and feel desperately helpless when we can’t.”
So what can we do to help, after processing the news and all those feelings? There are small but practical ways to support your fave through the closing down process.
If you’re in a financial position to do so, buy or book something – to have something tangible from something that’s about to disappear, and to help the business clear stock and raise money to pay out employees and other associated costs.
Peter Gordon’s restaurant and cooking school Homeland recently announced that it will be closing at the end of July, just one of several seismic changes in the hospitality industry. Alastair Carruthers, Homeland’s head of business, says the best thing to do to support a brand undergoing change – and the industry that it is part of – is to buy their products and services. “Whether closing down, or transitioning, cash is needed to meet those costs. And that will increase the chance of brands remerging where they can.”
For retail, reduced consumer spending is hitting hard. That’s one of the reasons that iconic antiques store Flotsam & Jetsam is closing its Ponsonby Road shop (they will still be online and have a smaller space nearby), with co-owner Cameron Woodcock saying spending habits seemed to change during the election period last year.
“We bounced back after Covid although the election period last year seemed to really change how people thought about their finances – it was very different to the usual ups and downs, customers were literally saying they didn't need anything, almost as bad as when people were purging their possessions after Marie Kondo aired several years ago.”
The support they have received since their announcement has been incredible, he says, but retail needs that long-term to survive. “Businesses, whether closing or not, constantly need local support – we want interesting things in our neighbourhoods and it’s not only support from customers but landlords too.”
And while you’re processing your own sadness, it’s important to remember that the business owner who’s made the call to close will be feeling all those feelings – and possibly others like failure, embarrassment, fear. Indeed, the feelings were still too raw for some of those who have recently announced closures to offer comment for this piece.
Small actions can mean big things: leave a comment, send a DM, email them to share your sadness at the news and say thanks for what they created.
Anahita Paul shuttered her three-year-old business Naatyu in July 2023 and her key advice for those wanting to support a brand that is closing is to remember the person or people behind it.
“As someone who poured all their energy and effort into their baby store, you want to feel like it had an impact and will be missed. When I announced the closing of Naaytu, I got hundreds of kind and heartfelt messages wishing me well and expressing their love for my little business,” she says. “I screenshotted each of them and even now on bleak days when I'm feeling like I failed, I go back and read those and they make a WORLD of difference!”
That’s especially true for small owner-operated businesses, which make up the brunt of these recent closures. “The connection and community around a small business is truly special and something no amount of marketing or budget can achieve for large scale businesses,” says Paul. “So if you're a customer, just remember that behind your favourite small business is a human and that human wants kindness and acknowledgement.”
