Dunedin Sheepskin store manager Sue Barclay was referring to the impact Covid-19 is still having on the retail sector.
Despite the struggling sector, households in Otago have recorded their highest level of economic confidence since before Covid-19.
Westpac’s latest McDermott Miller regional economic survey showed Otago’s economic confidence spiked in the June quarter, with a net 10% of households feeling optimistic about the future.
The survey noted the retail sector was still weak and unlikely to fully recover until the borders reopened to key tourism markets.
Retailers were still struggling with the lack of tourists in the city, Mrs Barclay said.
She believed retailers around Dunedin’s Octagon were hit hard early last year when the Dunedin City Council closed it off to vehicles to make the area a more pedestrian-friendly zone.
It meant buses from cruise ships did not park in the Octagon and tourists were not drawn into the shops.
"That actually started to destroy most of the businesses around here ... so when Covid hit multiple businesses closed, they just couldn’t survive.
"So the damage was already done when Covid arrived.
"If we had had the buses in the Octagon, I think a lot more businesses would have been able to survive because they would have had enough to get through," she said.
Despite the lack of tourists, Mrs Barclay said local people had still been supporting retailers.
"May probably was one of the best months we have ever had and that was all just New Zealanders which has been really encouraging and I am really grateful for that," she said.
Champions of the World store manager Matthew Clifford said it had been a struggle but there was "a little bit" of confidence around now.
"There is no doubt it has been a struggle but things are definitely better than what they were this time last year.
"We are doing OK and we are just now starting to see an increase in sales," he said.
Mr Clifford said his store and many others were looking forward to the two All Black tests in Dunedin in July and September.
"All Black test days are always the busiest days of the year.
"It may not be for the Fiji test in July, just because of the time of year it is being played, but definitely the South Africa test in September will be a good one for everyone," Mr Clifford said.
Otago’s spike in confidence was also being helped after the housing market sprang back to life over recent months, the survey said.
House prices were sitting 24% above a year ago, which was boosting the region’s construction sector.
Southland’s economic confidence remained largely unchanged over the June quarter, with 13% of households, down one point from March, expecting their economy to improve over the coming year.
A healthy farmgate milk price, and a strong construction sector on the back of the hot housing market were contributing to that confidence.
The region was still feeling the impact of the border closure and the absence of international tourists.
Nationally, the survey noted regions with a rural backbone were generally more confident than the large metropolitan centres.
