‘Shop here’ push planned

Getting people to realise the value of shopping in the Te Awamutu community will  be a major focus of the Te Awamutu Business Chamber this year, says chief executive Shane Walsh.

His comments came as the importance of events at Karāpiro to the Waipā economy were illustrated by unofficial retail foot counts and accommodation bookings taken during the Waka Ama championships last week.

A newly-formed retail subcommittee will be central to the Te Awamutu chamber’s plans and it will look to “create excitement” so people stay in the community to shop.

“It’s like a circle, when you shop locally, it goes back into the community where you spent the money,” Walsh said.

Cars, vans and coaches with waka strapped to the tops provided visual evidence that more than 3200 paddlers from clubs around New Zealand, the Pacific and even the United Kingdom were in Waipā.

And as Karāpiro site manager Liz Stolwyk and her team waved goodbye to them on Sunday, preparation was underway to welcome another 2500 competitors and their supporters for the three-day North Island Rowing Championships starting Saturday.

Destination Cambridge general manager Ruth Crampton said her team provided a pop up i-Site at Karāpiro on the first day and then saw a stream of visitors in town looking for something to do away from the water.

Alexandra St Te Awamutu. Photo: Jeremy Smith

Walsh, who started back at work this week, said initial feedback from Te Awamutu retailers was that retail business had been slow.

He also chairs Destination Te Awamutu which launched a revamped website last month but is struggling to firm up the i-Site’s future following Waipā District Council’s decision to cut its $157,000 a year funding.

Cambridge Chamber of Commerce chief executive Kelly Bouzaid said foot counts her chamber subscribes to showed a slack start to the year but last week was a hot one.

Stolwyk said her information from Cambridge and Te Awamutu was similar but “these people live and breathe and work in these towns” and they could see the evidence.

“I love it when you see a car with a waka on the roof and there were plenty of those.”

Stolwyk, who is also Waipā’s deputy mayor, said the $15,000 allocated to waka ama from the council’s district promotions fund was “money well spent”.

Sporting events in the district can apply for funds. Black Friday Blowout in Te Awamutu and the Rangiaowhia 160-year commemoration got $12,000 and $10,000.

But it was newer events the district fund hoped to help attract in the future, she said.

Youngsters from Puahue School warm up for their performance during Black Friday celebrations on the back of their win in the Xtreme category at the Jump Jam North Island Competition two years ago.

Lake Karapiro.