St Patrick's Day Comes to Takapuna

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1300

Shillelaghs, shamrocks and shenanigans, it's a day to eat, drink and be Irish!

With the introduction of an Irish pub to the Takapuna entertainment strip, three Hurstmere Road bars have combined their efforts and are going all out to ensure the 17th March being St Patrick's Day will be a day to celebrate and remember.

With a special permit acquired to occupy the footpath for the entire day, a Green Zone will be created outside the Blankenberge Belgian Beer Cafe, Florrie McGreal's Irish Pub and the Copper Room.

Festivities will begin at 7.30am with the serving of a traditional Irish breakfast with proceeds donated to the Guide Dog Services Foundation for the Blind.

Typical Irish fare of corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew and beef and stout pie will also be available throughout the day.

Live entertainment will commence at 3.00pm on a specially erected stage and will continue throughout the afternoon and evening with contemporary and traditional Irish bands performing along with Irish dancers.

Colm McNeill-O'Keefe, the manager of Florrie McGreal's Irish Pub has previously been involved in St Patrick's Day celebrations in both the Claddagh and Muddy Farmer Irish pubs in Auckland and said that the day is simply huge. "It is fantastic having those with Irish heritage and even those that don't, come out and celebrate what is probably the second biggest party in the world"

Bookings for the charity breakfast are available by either telephoning 486 6330 or emailing colm@burnbrae.co.nz

Please be vigilant, some crime reported in Takapuna

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1300

Last night, there was a break-in and an attempted break-in of stores in Takapuna Beach.

We have also had reports of a laptop being stolen by a stair dancer last week and another break-in.

There was also a shoplifting incident last week, so please be vigilant with security and report any suspicious activity to the police.

How Events Can Benefit Your Business

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1300

Cities all over the world bid large amounts of money to host events which attract tourists, television coverage and provide locals with entertainment. Events such as the Takapuna Triathlon cost us nothing, except for some perceived disruption on the day. Many stakeholders (residents, business owners, landlords and Council) embrance and encourage the hosting of events believing that they bring some vibrancy to the town centre and highlight our natural asset.

The TVONE coverage of the Takapuna Tri lasted 2.5 hours and enhanced Takapuna Beach's reputation as the best Urban Beach in NZ, attracting a viewing audience of 200,000 people immediately before the news. Most shops on the course got exposure on the running and cycling legs (more so during the running due to the speed cyclists travel at) as competitors were followed by cameramen on motorbikes. There were 578 competitors, most of whom bring 2-3 people with them; Race management (TV Crews and race marshals) saw another 100 people, a total of over 2000 new visitors in addition to the 6000 spectators who lined the course during the day. Sales may occur on the day, but the more people that know about the quality retail and destination stores that we have in Takapuna Beach, the more that will travel back in future to shop here.

Less than 7% of our local catchment area spend is in Takapuna. This is a damming statistic and is reflective of the retail mix that we have and it not meeting the needs of our community. To address this, the TBBA have worked extremely hard over the last year. We have seen over 50 new businesses open in the last 5 months and amongst these some extremely well known brand names.

We have encouraged landlords to remove demolition and short term tenancy clauses, to tidy up their shops and to carefully consider prospective tenants to ensure they complement a retail strategy. We have worked with Council to improve our streetscape, to invest in projects and provide better parking. We have approached marquee retailers to consider opening in Takapuna and are having some success.

Events bring both visitors to, and residents of, Takapuna Beach into the town centre where they have the opportunity to see the changes that have occurred. The Takapuna Tri was extensively publicised and televised live at no expense to the TBBA, attracting large crowds. In the past, the TBBA has spent significant amounts of money on billboard, radio and newspaper advertising to try and attract people to Takapuna Beach - however it was still up to the individual retailers to get people into their doors by a variety of different means. Events provide a different marketing opportunity, the only cost being the disruption to business that some retailers describe. The TBBA is trying to balance that - mitigating the negative effects and leveraging off the positive.

For example, some reatilers took advantage of the different market in Takapuna on 21st February - conducting product sampling, talking to potential customers and revising hours to cater for the 6pm triathlon finish. Sumo Salad had their Sumo man mascot walking throughout the town centre and beach making spectators aware of Sumo Salad's presence in Takapuna Beach. Other retailers distributed leaflets to the captive crowd. Some retailers built window displays that were of interest to the predominantly sporty crowd that attended the event. Some shut their doors for the day!!

We welcome feedback from our members which we pass on to race organisers at our post event debriefs. As a result of last year's feedback regarding the triathlon, organisers set up the course early in the morning and started racing at 7.30am to try and create atmosphere rather than have streets closed from 9am, to set up the course, which last year resulted in shoppers not bother to enter the precinct.

Race organisers also shifted the finish line to outside Postie Plus to bring spectators into the retail district. Council sponsored a live music concert on the beach to attract people into the area (hoping to provide some counter to the Devonport Wine and Food Festival which was on the same weekend and always adversely affects trade in Takapuna Beach) and race organisers made numerous announcements on the day that anyone who made a purchase of $20 or more in Takapuna Beach could enter a competition for a number of prizes. In the weeks preceding the Tri, posters and flyers were distributed detailing information about the Tri, the concert and the fact that shoppers could win a prize by shopping in the town centre on the day. Retailers were encouraged to give these to their customers in advance, so as to generate interest and also advise as to how to mitigate some of the negative effects (eg alternative parking options). Competitors attended registration and a race briefing on the Saturday afternoon and a press conference and pre race dinner (attended by 70-80 people) was held in Takapuna Beach on the Friday; both events helping to bring extra people into our town centre.

We cannot please all of the people all of the time, however will do our best to do so and would appreciate any comments or suggestions that you may have as to help ensure this event better serves you and other retailers in the future. We are also most happy to discuss leveraging opportunities around each event, specific to your business.

Any queries, please call Peter White on 489 1003 or email peter@takapunabeach.co.nz

The coolest news around

St Patrick's Day Comes to Takapuna

Please be vigilant, some crime reported in Takapuna

How Events Can Benefit Your Business