Retail sales for the week ending March 22 were nothing special, up just 0.72 per cent over the same week last yea, according to BNZ MarketView.
Despite the static result, some surprising storetypes saw gain during the week.
Storetypes with the largest rises in spending were clothing, up 8.7 per cent; department stores, 7.3 per cent; and sports and camping equipment, up 6.3 per cent.
While the new winter clothing stock has been on shelves for weeks, a change to cooler weather saw spending at clothing stores climb over the same week last year. For the last 13 weeks, spending at these stores was up just 0.8 per cent.The colder weather did not help hardware and homeware retailers, who had a very uncharacteristically slow week, with spending falling 4.2 per cent. Spending at these retailers was still up 7.6 per cent over the last 13 weeks.
NZ’s victory in the Cricket World Cup quarter final match drew a sell out crowd in Wellington, with spending at bars, cafes, and restaurants from non-locals up 14.4 per cent over the same Saturday last year, highlighting the positive economic impacts of hosting big events.
