Job seekers helped into hospitality work
A plan to place over 100 people into restaurants and hospitality jobs over the next two months is being set in motion…
Buying a car? There’s a ‘high likelihood’ it is flood-damaged
The country’s largest car dealer is warning people looking to purchase a second-hand vehicle to check carefully that it has not been damaged by the recent floods. Hundreds of vehicles were left unusable after being submerged during Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods. On websites like Trade Me, there was no shortage of […]
Costco opens in New Zealand
American discount wholesale retailer Costco opened its first store in New Zealand last month. The store, located north of Auckland in the Westgate suburb, sells hundreds of brands in the departments of food, healthcare products, electronics and furniture. It also includes a pharmacy, optometrist, hearing aid centre and food court. Managing director Patrick Noone said […]
‘Sushi train’ restaurant a New Zealand first
A new sushi restaurant opened in Queenstown last Saturday – the first in the country to include a miniature train for delivering orders. Soki Sushi Train, in Queenstown’s CBD, boasts a custom-made model of Japan’s bullet train, which travels around the tables of the restaurant to deliver food to the diners. Restaurant owner Ting Li […]
Christmas period boosts New Zealand domestic card spending.
Spending on groceries, furniture and electronics boosted New Zealand’s December 2020 sales compared with December 2019, but accommodation and fuel spending were low, the country’s statistics department Stats NZ said on Tuesday. Total retail card spending rose 3.5 percent in December 2020, up 250 million New Zealand dollars (178 million U.S. dollars), compared with the […]
More expensive fruit, vegetables boost New Zealand food prices.
Fruit and vegetable prices increased almost 9 percent in the year ended December 2020, boosting overall food price inflation to 2.9 percent, New Zealand’s statistics department Stats NZ said on Friday. “In 2020 prices have been high for a variety of crops, including potatoes, courgettes and tomatoes, at different times of the year and for […]
Kiwi spending intentions ‘cautiously optimisic’ despite pandemic
The magnitude of the pandemic hasn’t taken the cheer out of the summer holiday season, with more than half of New Zealanders planning to spend as much this year as they did last year. A survey of 777 consumers by professional services firm Accenture indicates nearly one-in-six were feeling more optimistic and will spend more […]