Foot traffic is still lower than pre-Covid numbers and turnover (revenue earned by businesses) is down too, around 8-9% lower than this time last year, according to Jamey Holloway, general manager of the K\u2019Road Business Association. He notes Marketview\u2019s card data, where the turnover figure comes from, doesn\u2019t account for cash or the direct business-to-business transactions. \u201cIt\u2019s been really bloody tough, but people have mostly done their rationalisations and they can see it\u2019s just slowly clawing its way back and ready to kind of take off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Are the vibes better?\u00a0 \u201cIt definitely feels that way,\u201d says Holloway. \u201cI think that the bigger picture is that people are sick of doom and gloom.\u201d But economic improvement and optimism aren\u2019t evenly spread. \u201cThere are some people that are just hurting and not thinking about much more than survival,\u201d Holloway says. \u201cThere are some people that are actually thriving right now, and they know they\u2019re gonna do even better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The corner of Karangahape Rd and Pitt St in late 2023 (Photo: Wikimedia\/CC BY 4.0)<\/p>\n
Whammy Bar had the worst winter in recent memory, says co-owner Lucy Macrae. \u201c It was hard! People simply haven\u2019t had the disposable income to go out, and that\u2019s completely understandable with the state of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s also been a distinct, visible effort from the neighbourhood to shake off its economic hangover, put some lipstick on, fluff the hair and get back to it. Recent months have seen a surge of activity. \u201cThere\u2019s also been a real community-wide effort to make Karangahape Road feel vibrant again,\u201d Macrae says. \u201cEvents bring people onto the road and add value to what local businesses are already doing. They work with the community and everyone benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taking things out onto the street, new markets have been established, including the weekly K Road Market and the FAM (Food Art Market) on the first Saturday of each month. Much of K Road\u2019s social fabric takes place on its footpaths. \u201cWe\u2019ve got really good relationships with all the council enforcement team,\u201d says Holloway. \u201cSome things \u2013 like street posters \u2013 that are non-compliant in other neighbourhoods are accepted up on K Road. \u201cLike the posters on the poles. That would be a faux pas at the bottom of Queen Street. It\u2019s not here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked to define business on K Road, he says \u201cit\u2019s all hospitality\u201d one way or another. Half of the transactions measured there are going to somebody who lives within two kilometres of the strip. There are more amenities catering to residents; long-running Asian supermarket and foodcourt Lim Chhour has been joined by the 24-hour In & Out Supermarket on the corner of Upper Queen and new dairies have opened down the road. Even the laundromat got a recent facelift.<\/p>\n
The Las Vegas girl enjoys regular touch-ups too. The precinct has historically catered to assorted appetites (even amid gentrification<\/a>) and its distinct culture of entertainment remains an important part of the evolving neighbourhood.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great to walk along Karangahape Road and see the planning come to fruition,\u201d says Annah Pickering, regional co-ordinator of the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective (NZPC). \u201cWe\u2019re part of advisory groups with council, Auckland Transport and City Rail Line around the places that won\u2019t affect our industry; it\u2019s important that our clients can come and park.\u201d Pickering says sex workers have had a challenging year. \u201cEconomically, it\u2019s been hard for a lot of people in our industry,\u201d she says, and that includes everyone from dancers to full-service sex workers. \u201cWhere our local, street-based sex workers are concerned, it\u2019s really, really tough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Comparatively affordable buildings helped shape K Road\u2019s role in the city\u2019s subcultures and underground. \u201cThere\u2019s been heritage restrictions and underinvestment, which creates opportunities for artists and creators,\u201d Holloway says. \u201cThat\u2019s the unique selling proposition of Karangahape Road.\u201d The affordability of rental spaces is critical in keeping that culture alive. \u201cIt\u2019s huge and it\u2019s going to be an ongoing challenge,\u201d says Holloway. \u201cNot just for here; it\u2019s vital for Auckland.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n T\u0101maki\u2019s Makaurau\u2019s independent, underground fashion scene still has a strong foothold in the neighbourhood; Te Wiki \u0100hua o Aotearoa took place twice this year, and secondhand and vintage shops continue to dominate the strip\u2019s retail mix. The old Leo O\u2019Malley spot, which hasn\u2019t had a permanent tenant since AS Colour vacated in 2024, has been taken over by Crushes boutique, which has just relocated from its previous space a few doors down.<\/p>\n Last weekend saw the return of The Others Way festival to nine venues around the neighbourhood. For Whammy and its sibling venues Double Whammy and Public Bar, \u201cIt\u2019s always a great night economically,\u201d says Macrae. \u201cWe need that festival, for Karangahape Road, for the music ecosystem, and for a vibrant Auckland city. \u201cIt brought people out in force and created a real sense of momentum. I think it also showed what the festival could be. With more investment and buy-in, it has the potential to grow even further and become an even more significant economic touchpoint for the area and for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n The spring-summer period has been much more positive for Macrae and her co-owners\u2019 venues. Putting on free mid-week shows at Public Bar \u2013 a response to the rough winter trading \u2013 helped encourage a different rhythm. \u201cIt\u2019s been amazing to see people still showing up and investing in live music. It\u2019s also proved that going out and enjoying culture doesn\u2019t have to be limited to late-night Fridays and Saturdays.\u201d They tend to see a significant lift from late January to the end of March. \u201cThere are festival sideshows, more people out and about, and everyone\u2019s general mood improves. It\u2019s great \u2013 people need to feel happy and connected, and the city needs to feel busy and alive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Auckland<\/a>\u2019s nightlife hasn\u2019t been the same since Covid; we\u2019re going out less frequently and when we do it\u2019s more sedate. Attitudes have changed \u2013 a quarter of New Zealand adults don\u2019t drink alcohol<\/a> and Aucklanders are among the earliest diners<\/a> in the world \u2013 and K Road has changed too. The neighbourhood\u2019s hospitality offering is now dominated by restaurants, winebars and affordable eateries. Not that they\u2019ve had it easy.<\/p>\n Echoing Macrae\u2019s comments, Caluzzi co-owner Kita Mean says this past winter was one of the worst the much-loved drag cabaret spot\u2019s ever had. But things are looking up. \u201cCaluzzi goes hand in hand with the nicer weather, when people are feeling, fun, flirty and throw caution to the wind a bit. I think drag queens are excellent facilitators of that.\u201d This part of the year is their busiest period as Caluzzi hosts work functions and hen\u2019s parties. Next year marks the drag club\u2019s 30th anniversary.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s among the neighbourhood\u2019s longstanding establishments. Family Bar has been in business 20 years, Verona opened in 1992, Charlie\u2019s feels like it\u2019s been there forever. K Road cashed in on the nostalgia in September, with an array of memorabilia \u201csold<\/a>\u201d in exchange for receipts at a pop-up store.<\/p>\n The famous Vegas Girl could be found on a deadstock key chain. A couple of blocks down, 335 Karangahape Road is still her home, even though the strip club closed in 2015<\/a> after 53 years. Underneath her are newer nightclubs, the latest in a line of tenancies that have included Shanghai Lil\u2019s and The Rising Sun.<\/p>\n People still come up here to party. There\u2019s Studio and Neck of The Woods. Whammy expanded last year<\/a>, A-Space has opened behind Acho\u2019s and a new music venue is rumoured to be in the works at number 510. Walk through Beresford Square on a sunny summer evening and you\u2019ll see patrons perched outside the bars around Beresford Square. All those businesses are well placed for what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n After nearly six years of construction, Beresford Square reopened in October. The entrance to Karanga-a-Hape Station entices from behind a fence (for now). A second is located across the intersection on Mercury Lane; that street will become a shared space (rather than fully pedestrianised as originally planned<\/a>). When the CRL opens next year<\/a> K Road will be only a couple of minutes away from Britomart\u2019s Waitemat\u0101 Station and 40,000<\/a> daily users are expected to use what will be the country\u2019s longest escalator.<\/p>\n Other ambitious projects are in the pipeline; that innovative Fearon Hay-designed timber building planned<\/a> \u2013 and nixed<\/a> \u2013 for 538 Karangahape Rd is going ahead after all (construction should start in 2027<\/a>).<\/p>\n No one\u2019s short on motivation. Open Late has been hosting a series of \u201cNight Mayors\u201d events about how to improve Auckland. Coastal Signs moved to the street, joining the many other art galleries already there. Two Karangahape Road businesses, Lebanese Grocer and Pici, were among the four Auckland eateries awarded $25,000 grants from the American Express Backing International Small Restaurants programme designed to facilitate \u201ccritical\u201d<\/a> improvements.<\/p>\n The owners of Tempero restaurant had been vocal about challenges last year. \u201cWe were hit with issues like construction outside the restaurant and it goes without saying that the country was in a deep economic decline,\u201d explains co-owner Tiffany Lowe. This summer, she says, it feels like K Road has its buzz back. \u201cHospitality will always be an industry that is unpredictable, but this year has been night and day in comparison to last year (at least for us) and we\u2019re looking forward to what next year brings. We are optimistic that when the CRL launches, along with the economy slowly adjusting, that it\u2019s only going to get better from here.\u201d<\/p>\n And while there have been some high-profile closures, including Madame George<\/a> and Candela, this year has seen a handful of additions. The Frog and Hyderabad Hotel opened; the spot vacated by Celeste has been filled by Honoka Yakitori; and One Stop A\u00e7a\u00ed can now be found in Saint Kevin\u2019s Arcade, which welcomed Sagrado Cantina<\/a> earlier this year. At the west end of the road, a multi-purpose music space is getting ready to open at number 510. \u201cTo see the Pink Pussycat [which used to be at that address] come back to life is pretty cool,\u201d says Holloway. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of leasing activity going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond that, he thinks there\u2019s room for more to happen. \u201cI think what The Others Way showed is that with the right creative approach you can do things that you wouldn\u2019t have thought were possible.\u201d Like close down a major arterial for an event. Holloway thinks Karangahape Road should close six to eight times a year for a wide variety of events. \u201cThat\u2019s the vision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this year, a \u2018spending slump\u2019 on Karangahape Road had business owners worried. Has anything changed on Auckland\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[51,138,492,15557,111031,111,43,139,69,644,2935],"class_list":{"0":"post-171834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-auckland","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-comments-enabled","11":"tag-hospitality","12":"tag-karangahape-road","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-retail","18":"tag-society"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A one-year-old Vegas Girl, captured by Ans Westra in 1989. (Photo: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 273-WES052-03).<\/p>\n
The main stage at The Others Way saw K Road closed between Pitt Street and Queen Street. (Photo: Jade Johnson)<\/p>\n
Caluzzi is in the business of fun. (Image: @caluzzicabaret)<\/p>\n
Lebanese Grocer\u2019s Elie Assaf during FAM market. (Image: @kroadnz)<\/p>\n