Fashion brand Ruby will close its store on Auckland's High Street after 24 years.
Clothing brand Ruby is permanently closing its Auckland High Street store after 24 years in business, citing safety concerns, a changing energy in the CBD and a need for a bigger space.
The location was the first store for the brand, opened in 2002 by Ruby founders Elizabeth Shand and Kate Gosling.
Ruby general manager Emily Miller-Sharma said the High Street store was no longer big enough for the business, but there were other issues behind the move. The clothing brand has shifted operations to Ponsonby instead, with pickup locations for online orders in the short term.
“We had been holding on, but, in the end, that space is no longer where or what we need for our retail environment,” Miller-Sharma said.
“We’ve reached a point where the ongoing realities of Auckland’s CBD mean High St is no longer the right home for us.”
Miller-Sharma said the team had held on in High St because of its significance as its first retail store and their belief in the character of the CBD, but the safety of its staff became a turning point.
“In present-day Auckland, the central city has had a rough time. The necessary construction works to complete the City Rail Link have made it difficult for people to navigate, and there are genuine and ongoing safety concerns for our team members.
“There have been times on a Saturday or Sunday morning when a team member has to wash vomit off the steps to the front door. That’s just part of being in the city, but what we have found recently, particularly in the past couple of years, is that it doesn’t have the same feeling of safety that it used to.”
She said a decrease in foot traffic was one part of the equation, but also shared her staff’s concerns that closing up the store each night in the darkness of winter gave them anxiety.
Miller-Sharma was adamant that rough sleepers and homeless people shouldn’t take moral responsibility for the safety of the city, and praised the wardens who have been patrolling the area.
Homelessness in Auckland’s CBD has been a key concern for business owners over the last few years.
A recent survey from business association Heart of the City found that 91% of operators saying rough sleepers and begging were affecting their business.
A further 81% believed the city centre was not in a good state to attract significantly more people and investment.
The Government also said it was considering possible legislation to give police new powers to move homeless people out of Auckland’s city centre.
Miller-Sharma said the “energy” had changed in the city, and was critical of landlords in the CBD who were “holding” properties rather than filling them.
“For us, it’s really about working with landlords who see the value in human connection in the city rather than land banking. If I’ve got an axe to grind, it’s really that lack of vision or excitement when landlords are just holding empty spaces.
“It just absolutely makes no sense to me. If those spaces were occupied with creative people, the reinvigoration of the city would just be so much quicker.”
Another contributing factor to the decision to leave was the news that a “great retailer nearby” wanted to expand their space.
Miller-Sharma said the decision had made her remember her first time entering the shop, reminiscing about how it was “the coolest place in the whole world”.
“High St had this real sense of class, it felt so fancy and it felt like I wanted to explore all of the nooks that were in the area. It was really good to think about what High St used to feel like while I was in modern-day High St.
“It’s very different now, and that’s okay because that is what happens in a city. Things do evolve.”
Ruby will close its doors in High St after trading on January 31, but Miller-Sharma said the intention is that the brand will return once it’s found the right space for its new central home.
“It’ll be so weird for us not to be in the central city. We need to be going into an area that has energy, but we’ll be back.”
Since opening the store, Ruby has expanded across the country, opening stores in Hamilton, Wellington, Mt Maunganui and Christchurch.
Ruby’s clothing lines are also sold by several stockists in smaller locations across New Zealand, including Coromandel, Martinborough, Oamaru and Dunedin.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.