STAYING POWER
Downtown Tauranga had a rough few years, but even in the lean times, these three businesses didn’t leave. Now, as the city’s renaissance gathers pace, their belief is paying off. Turns out, that was the right call.
Downtown Tauranga had a rough few years, but even in the lean times, these three businesses didn’t leave. Now, as the city’s renaissance gathers pace, their belief is paying off. Turns out, that was the right call.
PHOTOS SALINA GALVAN
Noel Cimadom at Clarence Bistro.
It’s no secret that Tauranga’s city centre has seen some challenging times. Shops closed and stayed empty, foot traffic dwindled, and many stores retreated to the malls. But despite it all, a group of true believers stayed put. They believed in the city centre and their businesses, knowing that what they offered was good enough to draw people into the city.
Walk downtown today, and people are returning to work, live and play. It’s getting closer to what Noel Cimadom saw when he looked at downtown Tauranga for the first time after arriving from Europe.
"I was always joking in the beginning, saying this can be Miami,” he laughs. “It just showed so much potential.”
With a background in hospitality in Munich, Noel and his wife, Kim Smythe, took the keys to The Old Tauranga Post Office heritage building on Willow Street in 2017, opened Clarence Bistro and Hotel in November 2018, then watched as the city centre grew very quiet indeed.
Instead of retreating, the pair doubled down, opening the acclaimed restaurants Picnika and Stassano in quick succession, built on their faith in the city's bones and Noel’s Miami dream.
“I am a believer," he admits. “There aren’t many cities on the oceanfront that can do what Tauranga could potentially become. I see it as the next future city. There’s no doubt about it. There’s a lot of opportunity here to become something very, very outstanding if we all pull together. I’ve got big hopes for it, for sure.”
They’ve seen and felt the recent change. The vibe is there, the tables are booked, and people are stopping in for after-work drinks, something that hasn’t happened for a long while. “It’s still early days,” he says, “but it’s coming.”
Julie Hammon of Hammon Diamond Jewellery.
Down the road, Julie Hammon is preparing to celebrate 40 years of business on the same city centre site. Hammon Diamond Jewellery arrived on Grey Street in 1986, and has remained ever since. The family jewellery business is also now approaching its 80th birthday.
“It’s amazing,” she smiles. “It's been such a fabulous journey.”
That journey has not been without turbulence. The stock market crash of 1987 hit just a year after she and her late husband opened. Later, the malls began luring customers away, and then the pandemic kept them away.
Through it all, Julie stayed put, even when shopping centre operators dangled attractive offers in front of her to relocate. She sent them on their way.
“I’ve always loved the city centre," she says, "and for us, being in the city is the right place to be."
“We’re a family business, people know where to find us, and they trust us,” she says. “These relationships have gone on for years and years and years. They’re intergenerational. We now have younger members of the same families coming in to use our services. It’s quite incredible.”
Her read on the city’s future is optimistic. “I’m very hopeful that we’re on that incline up,” she says. “For any city to be healthy and vibrant and have a fantastic future, you need a city centre that reflects that. The waterfront has been magnificently enhanced, there are events on downtown, and there are the new apartment blocks. The city centre is a very attractive and exciting place to be.”
Bond & Co’s Jason Dovey.
Up the street, on the main drag of Devonport Road, Jason Dovey has been dressing Tauranga’s stylishly inclined men for more than 30 years. Bond & Co, his boutique menswear store, is a destination in the truest sense. People drive in specifically because there’s nowhere else quite like it.
“I’ve definitely seen the city centre at its lowest, as low as you can go,” he sighs. “But with the rebuild of buildings and facilities and more people living and working back in the city I reckon we’re on the other side, and going up continually."
Even at the city’s quietest point, Jason didn’t think about leaving.
“I never want to go to a suburb and would definitely never go to a mall. We’re a boutique business. The city’s where we want to be. We don't want to be in suburbia.”
Jason says that even within the last year, the change has been notable.
“It’s sort of like the old days,” he says, saying that now, along with the destination shoppers, the increase in foot traffic has people popping in as they walk by.
He agrees that the city centre’s much-needed developments have made a huge difference to business. He’s seeing people bringing their kids or grandkids to the new playground, then stopping for lunch at a café, before dropping in to see him at the store.
“It’s not about going to a cupboard shopping mall. It’s about the other attractions and things to do in the city centre. When the museum, the new library and those other facilities are all open, along with the cafés, restaurants and hospitality, it will be inviting for people to come back to the city centre.”
“There’s an atmosphere,” he smiles, then adds, “and that’ll only get stronger.”