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Speaker 1: Cafe and bakery chain Pandora is closing its is closing

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Speaker 1: its Wellington stores after twenty eight years in business. Follows

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Speaker 1: a string of closures from hospitality businesses and Wellington's in

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Speaker 1: the city, including Egmont Street eatery Field and Green Shepherd

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Speaker 1: con called Cafe Rubricks, and also sugar Woods Bars. Greg

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Speaker 1: Wilson is a Wellington business owner and member of the

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Speaker 1: Courtney Place Precinct Group and is with us. Now, hey,

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Speaker 1: Greg here, Pandora is an institution. Man, If these guys

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Speaker 1: can't survive, it must be really tough.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's that's a thing, right, These guys have been

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Speaker 2: an institution of Wellington for years, you know. And Egged

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Speaker 2: one Street two have been going for almost a decade

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Speaker 2: in Wellington. And these guys are you really good operators?

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Speaker 2: So yeah, it's a really seems pretty big message that

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Speaker 2: Welton's going through a really tough time at the moment. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I'm business. What's that I was going to say?

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Speaker 1: Like, the list of things that are going wrong for

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Speaker 1: you guys is so long, I don't even really know

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Speaker 1: where to start. But what do you think the most

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Speaker 1: the most influential.

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Speaker 2: Is Yeah, there's a bit of a list of things.

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Speaker 2: He's a lot. Biggest thing is has really been that

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Speaker 2: the publicity cuts this year had hammered Wellington. The social

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Speaker 2: housing issues in central Wellington haven't haven't helped at all.

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Speaker 2: There's the interest rates obviously seven percent. People have cut spending.

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Speaker 2: Hospitality is the first thing we cut, and the budgets

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Speaker 2: that type bet the public sector jobs. Actually, you know,

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Speaker 2: ninety five percent of people in this country still have

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Speaker 2: their job, so most people still have their job, but

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Speaker 2: it's there, it's the unknown. There a lot of people

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Speaker 2: know people that have lost their jobs, and so there's

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Speaker 2: that fear and that sort of that scaredness around like, oh,

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Speaker 2: we're going to stop spending and save my money because

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Speaker 2: all lot's around the corner. Let's wait and see. And

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Speaker 2: so that's what's happened right now. So's but springs come

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Speaker 2: along and it's given us a bit of a bit

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Speaker 2: of a bump in our mood today with a bit

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Speaker 2: of blue sky. So that's positive.

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Speaker 1: Did you guys have a good day in Wellington today?

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Speaker 1: It's amazing how that kind of stuff lives to spirits.

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Speaker 1: I was down on was down last month and the

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Speaker 1: thing that I noticed is the amount of construction that's

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Speaker 1: going on in the city, like in Taranaki Street just

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Speaker 1: outside Lee's Mills. That blinking that dugger has been there

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Speaker 1: for the longest time. What the hell is going on?

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Speaker 2: You've been a little bit slow. I'll drive past you

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Speaker 2: every day and I feel like Polton. We get on

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Speaker 2: the side of the run jomping NK and and spade

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Speaker 2: and getting a bit of a hand. Yeah, it's taking

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Speaker 2: it too long. And I mean so well Auckland had

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Speaker 2: re turn with all the is having their turn, and

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Speaker 2: it's gone through a massive change with the street changes

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Speaker 2: and rote dig ups, and it is now Wellington's paying

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Speaker 2: Wellington's lagging infrastructure. Fortney Place is about to go through

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Speaker 2: a big major upgrades, so we can expect Courtney Places

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Speaker 2: to be dug up mid next year, you know, three

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Speaker 2: years man?

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Speaker 1: Is that wise? Given everything you people have been through,

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Speaker 1: should they be doing that?

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Speaker 2: Well? Looky bit a look at Courtney Places now. It's

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Speaker 2: a bit tired and run down at the moment, Heather,

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Speaker 2: and look, we could keep going the way we're going,

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Speaker 2: otherwise we could make some change. And it's always really

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Speaker 2: hard for everyone to get behind. For us to start,

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Speaker 2: especially such a significant sort of transport where a destination

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Speaker 2: like Courtney Place that has a you know, entertainment habit

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Speaker 2: is also a thoroughfyre for buses. So that's a bit

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Speaker 2: scary for us business homes at the moment. But we

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Speaker 2: are working with account and we're meeting with accounts, are

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Speaker 2: really regily about getting a plan for Courtney Place, one

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Speaker 2: that we can really get behind and celebrate because we

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Speaker 2: want to bring Courtney Place back to.

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Speaker 1: What it was. Grig, do you feel like you need

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Speaker 1: to be nice to the council so that you can

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Speaker 1: get your party.

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Speaker 2: Years shout up for your tory yet? No, we're working hopefully.

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Speaker 2: What's the council. Yeah, we've got that meeting next week

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Speaker 2: next Wednesdays. That minute, But the account had been pretty supportive.

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Speaker 2: We're working with them really closely. But we're looking hoping

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Speaker 2: to fix some change soon and it's just going to

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Speaker 2: take a bit more time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, good luck man, but your care.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Hospitality, we're a hard bunch in the hospitality. We're

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Speaker 2: just going through COVID. We two years of COVID and

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Speaker 2: I say to people, this kind of feels like COVID

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Speaker 2: but without the COVID. Yeah, And so it's hammering us again.

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Speaker 2: Businesses are going away. We're reinventing our businesses almost every day.

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Speaker 2: We're looking at the cost going what can we cut,

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Speaker 2: what can we change? For example, in our business here

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Speaker 2: they we're now outsourcing roles to the Philippines, finance night

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Speaker 2: rolls for the Philippines. It's said for New Zealand. But

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Speaker 2: that's the reality is to survive in this market, we've

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Speaker 2: got to be a bit more creative and cut costs

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Speaker 2: to survive, just to get through this year and survive

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Speaker 2: twenty five. As very real.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I totally believe you, Greg, Thank you very much,

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Speaker 1: really appreciate it, mate, and go Well, that's Greg Wilson

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Speaker 1: who's a member of Courtney Place Precinct Group and owner

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Speaker 1: of Courtney Place businesses. And by the way, the party

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Speaker 1: I was talking about there is the part is this

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Speaker 1: is the New Year's Eve party. Greg and a bunch

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Speaker 1: of people are trying to trying to get the council

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Speaker 1: to go ahead with it and close off Courtney Place

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Speaker 1: for New Year's even Let them do like a little

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Speaker 1: family family initially family oriented party, later turning into no

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Speaker 1: doubt boots hag outfit as it gets closer to midnight

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Speaker 1: and our best of luck because he thinks that that

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Speaker 1: may help out with the businesses over news even probably will.

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Speaker 1: For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, Listen live to

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