year. “2015 will likely be remembered as the year when major international retail brands truly began to set themselves up in the NZ market,” says Keane. He explains that in the 1970s James Smith was a potent retail force – a major department store in Wellington, on the corner of Cuba and Courtenay Place. It was a family owned retailer and much loved by Wellingtonians. The family ventured into shopping centre ownership by buying a shopping centre in Upper Hutt; the result was the decimation of the James Smith business, and the store closed. Warnocks Menswear was also a dominant force at the time, with stores throughout NZ. Again it was a business started by Peter Warnock out of Wanganui. Hannahs, the footwear company, bought it. The stores no longer exist! “Living and Giving was a chain of smart gift shops operated by their owner Sally Jackson. The stores were sold and languished under their new owners. Where is this brand today?  These are just a few examples, but how about these brand names: Sussan; Borders; Arthur Barnett; The Good Guys;  Darryl Lea; Woods for Goods; Robert Creek; Minsons; Evans; McKenzie’s; Woolworths; Arthur Toye; Dress for Less; Pauls Fashions; Deka; to name just a few,” says Keane. He points out that the majority of those examples were stores operated by individuals or families. The demise generally came about due to the business being sold into a larger group or the owners just having had enough of the business, or no succession plan through other family members. The key it seems was the ability to run a family business with a focus versus a takeover by a larger organisation and the business focus being lost. Certainly there is a trend that suggests more brands that we currently know will disappear into the future. “Next year we will see Kircaldie and Stains disappear in Wellington, and what does the future hold for the likes of Dick Smith, Noel Leeming, and Whitcoulls as traditional brands?” queries Keane. This week the opening of a new shopping mall in Massey, Auckland,  NorthWest Shopping Centre, will take place. “It is a new centre of some size, owned by Stride Property (just rebranded from DNZ Property) and located across the road from the existing Westgate Town Centre. It will comprise new and older retailers. Will they all survive? Or will it be a case again of the 2011 Rugby World Cup rugby ball, whatever happened to it?” concludes Keane.