Summer reissue: A definitive answer to a burning question: what is the best gluten-free bread of them all? First published October 21 2020 Outside of coeliac circles, not many people know that gluten-free bread is actually better than regular bread. It’s true.* After years of fastidious experimentation and perfecting, gluten-free bakers have now produced a … Read more
Earlier this year, Ingrid Starnes was forced to close all its retail stores after Covid-19 severely disrupted its business. Now the fashion label is embarking on its next chapter with a brand new business model – one which promotes an honest and sustainable future for fashion, writes Ingrid Starnes managing director Simon Pound for Ensemble. … Read more
It’s the most lucrative time of the year for retailers but a myriad of problems is threatening to change that. So what’s with the hold-up? And what are some goods New Zealanders might be hard-pressed to find on Christmas shelves this year? Despite being a geographically isolated country at the bottom of the globe, flowing … Read more
With retailers being urged to advertise honest and genuine savings this Black Friday, here’s what consumers should be looking out for. It’s been tough for a lot of businesses this year, but there was some good news for retailers earlier this week when Stats NZ revealed sales had jumped 7.4% year-on-year in the September quarter … Read more
Speculation surrounding the new Covid-19 community case in Auckland last week has cast a light on the pressure retail and hospitality workers face every day. For New Zealand, a new case of Covid-19 in the community is an alarming event in and of itself. The fact that the source of the transmission was initially a … Read more
BusinessDesk‘s Rebecca Stevenson looks into the controversial restructuring programme at New Zealand’s largest retailer, which has slashed hundreds of jobs and shuttered stores nationwide. I still recall as an employee of the former Fairfax Media business seeing a report in The Australian in 2013 which filled me, a junior reporter with an interest in business, … Read more
A definitive answer to a burning question: what is the best gluten-free bread of them all? Outside of coeliac circles, not many people know that gluten-free bread is actually better than regular bread. It’s true.* After years of fastidious experimentation and perfecting, gluten-free bakers have now produced a product vastly superior to its wheat-filled counterpart. … Read more
After years of specialising in low-carbon footwear, Allbirds has introduced a new line of sustainable apparel made from an unconventional yet innovative source. In April, when Allbirds announced it would be the first fashion label to introduce a sticker that measured the carbon footprint of each one of its products, it was seen as a … Read more
The move to ‘level 2.5’ means retailers are allowed to reopen from today. Still, some have decided they’re not ready to return to normal trading. Michael Andrew reports. Despite the end of alert level three and the relaxing of restrictions, at least one Auckland retailer has decided to keep its physical store closed as an … Read more
Covid-19 has created an increase in racism towards retail workers. Z Energy’s Matau Stewart spoke to The Spinoff about his personal experiences with racism, and why some of New Zealand’s biggest retail companies are proactively addressing abuse of their staff. When New Zealand moved into lockdown it quickly became apparent how essential frontline retail staff … Read more
Do you qualify for the government’s new wage subsidy extension? Here are the essentials. What’s all this then? Last Friday, the government announced Auckland would stay in alert level three – and the rest of New Zealand in alert level two – for another 12 days, as part of its response to the recent Covid-19 … Read more
Whether it’s a grant or a wage subsidy, industry leaders say Auckland businesses need government support. With the mending glue barely having dried, some Auckland businesses will be cracking again under the pressure of the new level three lockdown. Now they are calling on the government to help. Finance minster Grant Robertson has already hinted … Read more
Data released by Stats NZ today shows the impact of Covid-19 on New Zealand jobs during the June quarter was disproportionately felt by women. Mary Jo Vergara from KiwiEconomics breaks down what it all means. Women have historically fared well in times of war and crisis. During the Second World War, there was a dramatic … Read more
We can’t tell you who wrote this piece, or where they work. What we can tell you is it’s not Unity. A little while ago, I said to a friend that working at a bookshop kind of sucks. He was clearly bamboozled. “I thought working at a bookshop would be lovely and magical. Being surrounded … Read more
One month since the country’s newest upmarket shopping mall opened its doors, Commercial Bay is giving some of its tenants a rent holiday to help soften Covid-19’s economic blow, reports Amy Williams for RNZ. Commercial Bay – a $1 billion development with more than 120 shops – occupies a city block in downtown Auckland. It … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Serious Fraud Office announces investigation into donations made to Labour, deportations from Australia to resume, and retail businesses up against it on rent. In a short statement released yesterday afternoon, the Serious Fraud Office made it clear that donations to the Labour Party in 2017 … Read more
Despite dark clouds on the horizon, New Zealand’s post-lockdown spending spree is still going strong. Mary Jo Vergara from Kiwi Economics shares insights into what’s driving it – and how long it will last. Covid-19 and the level four lockdown has bought about some dramatic shifts in New Zealanders’ spending and consumption habits, and many … Read more
New business ventures are trying to jump-start the economy of New Brighton, the Christchurch beachside suburb that locals say is on the cusp of greatness – if it can just maintain some momentum post-Covid. Green Bear Coffee runs on a simple concept: good coffee, community and sustainability. But what isn’t simple is opening a week … Read more
A new mall in downtown Auckland prizes food over shopping and public transport over private. Duncan Greive digests it all. Next year St Lukes, the venerable icon mall of Auckland’s inner west, will turn 50, showing the enduring power of the imported American shopping innovation. It arrived just eight years after New Zealand’s first, Lynnmall, … Read more
It’s a state-of-the-art retail and hospitality centre opening in the jaws of a recession. Michael Andrew takes a look at the hurdles and hopes for the new billion-dollar Commercial Bay. Earlier this week, two days before its official launch, the Commercial Bay development in downtown Auckland opened for a discreet preview. A small group of … Read more
The local fashion industry takes another hit with Ingrid Starnes closing its stores after more than a decade. Fashion brand Ingrid Starnes has announced it’s closing the retail arm of its business due to the impacts of Covid-19. Its new store opening in Commercial Bay on Thursday and its current store in Ponsonby will remain … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to New Zealand investor and business advisor David Bell. As a university professor at Wharton in the US, David … Read more
As Covid-19 continues to force an immense shift toward online shopping, the kind of authentic, face-to-face experience offered at one Auckland bike shop is becoming all the more valuable. When you walk into T. White’s Bikes on central Auckland’s Symonds St, you’re left in no doubt that bike riding is a serious business. Above every … Read more
Gaming consoles, exercise bikes, DVDs and paint – turns out what New Zealand is buying says a lot about what we’ve been doing in lockdown. Last week, I finally bought a TV. Nothing fancy, just your stock standard 30-inch telly to replace my cheap tablet that was starting to splutter to the end of its … Read more
Working in customer service has never been easy, but now it’s pushing workers to the brink. Emily Writes talks to those on the other side of online shopping. Katie* has cried every day for the last few weeks. It’s a good day if she can make it to the end of the day before she … Read more
Like bookstores across the country, Unity Books opened for online orders on Tuesday morning not quite knowing what to expect. Everyone across both teams is so wildly busy doing God’s work – getting books to where they need to be – that we can’t bring you a bestseller chart based on actual data this week. … Read more
The weight of Covid-19 will be very unequally distributed. Duncan Greive writes about where it will land, and how those it hits might come out from under it. This is the second of a two part series – read the first here There’s a graph I keep thinking about which shows the potential strangeness of … Read more
Since the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment relaxed the rules around the supply of essential non-food items last week, more businesses are announcing that their online stores are up and running. Some things, however, are not what leaps to mind as ‘essential’. Under the new policy allowing essential non-food items to be supplied, MBIE … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New guidelines on gatherings and social distancing announced, OCR slashed ahead of fiscal stimulus, and Air NZ facing crushing losses. Gatherings of 500 or more people have been banned in the latest round of measures aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19. It has meant the … Read more