Buying local key, My Mate John’s says

As furniture seller My Mate John’s Furniture Warehouse readies itself to start delivering to customers under Alert Level 3, the company’s director has a plea for Otago residents.

"If there was one thing I really wanted to get across ... is how important it is for all of us to support local business," Pete Williamson said.

"Local business as a whole — that is more important now than ever ... for all of us to be aware where our money’s going when we’re going to make those purchases.

"Is it supporting local people, local business and local families?"

Like many retailers, My Mate John’s has been shut under Level 4 and the company has rearranged itself to be able to start earning money again in Level 3 from Tuesday.

"Obviously, there’s frustration," Mr Williamson said.

"We can see it’s for the greater good we’re all having to suffer a little bit together to get through this.

He said it was short-term pain for a longer-term gain — and praised the Government for focusing on essential services.

"We’ve got a lot of people ... who rely on our business being open to support themselves and their families. And we feel pressure as employers to be able to operate and make sure these people can pay their mortgages and feed their kids.

"We’re very much looking forward to getting back to Level 3 and then Level 2 in the short term."

The company had revamped its website and was already making sales on it.

"That’s proved popular. It’s something the public’s been asking us to do for a long time.

‘That has been a bit of a relief actually — being able to get some sales through that."

The company had received about eight shipping containers of imported stock during lockdown.

The products went into storage at a facility near Port Chalmers but in the past week staff had been able to start moving that furniture into storerooms.

Many Otago businesses were in a similar position to My Mate John’s, trying to work out how best to operate under the rules of Level 3.

Under the new alert level businesses must maintain social distancing, record who is working together, limit interaction between work groups and maintain a high level of hygiene.

Retail and hospitality can only open for delivery and contactless pre-ordered pick-up.

"We’ve had unprecedented amounts of calls about ... what they need to do and what some of the restrictions are," Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dougal McGowan said.

"One of the key elements to those conversations is about ‘how are we going to keep our staff safe’ during this transition down from Level 4 to Level 3."

Businesses were also working hard to make sure supply chains were delivering so they could operate, Mr McGowan said.

He reiterated the importance of buying from local businesses.

It was vital businesses and customers paid close attention to the Level 3 rules, he said.

"We could end up back in that Level 4 again and that’s not a space we want to be back in again.

"We’ve seen how difficult that is for many businesses and we want to make sure we’re acting in the best way for our staff but also for our community so we can get down to that Level 2 as fast as we can."

There were many questions businesses would have as they opened up and operated under Level 3 and they would arise in due course, Mr McGowan said.

"The main thing about going back to work ... it’s about how they create an environment within their workplace where they’re going to be able to keep those physical distance spaces and how they manage their staff through that.

"But also understanding what those workflows might be. How much work is actually going to be coming through the door, how do we manage those big teams we might have in big workplaces."

If businesses were unsure about activities under Level 3, they should contact the chamber.

"Don’t be afraid to get on the phone at that time because we may not have the answers but we know how to get them."

jacob.mcsweeny@odt.co.nz