Some Dunedin bars are bucking the trend and recording record sales growth, despite the recession, with some owners choosing to sell only for personal reasons.
An article in the Otago Daily Times this week said many bars were struggling with difficult trading conditions, and more than 15 were on the market, but those in the hospitality industry spoken to this week said the recession had caused them very few issues, if any.
Starfish Cafe and Bar owners Nick Dodds and Khusla Sullivan said the cafe was a "very profitable business" and recent returns had been "better than ever".
The cafe, in St Clair, opened in 2006.
Mr Dodds said the couple were selling the business for personal reasons - because they had two other businesses and were starting a family.
"Overall, we have noticed no downturn."
Wayne Sefton, who owns Mackie's Hotel and the Portsider Tavern in Port Chalmers, as well as The Black Dog Cafe and Bar on Princes St, said his businesses were not struggling and his family had made the decision to sell for personal reasons.
The fact he was a "hands on" publican meant his hotels did very well, he said.
The Black Dog Cafe and Bar was "bucking the trend"of the recession as it was now open seven days a week, and a new chef and more wait staff had been hired.
Mr Sefton said he had owned Mackie's Hotel for 24 years, and the hotels had provided employment for his four children.
He simply wanted to sell in order to spend a bit more time with his family.
Mannequin Cafe and Bar lessee Nigel Moir said it was because he and his partner were having their second baby that they had decided to sell the business.
It had nothing to do with the recession.
Table Seven owner Steve Richardson said his business had been on the market since March last year, before the recession started.
Mr Richardson said he had been in the restaurant trade for 30 years and he had decided that now was the time, for him, to get out.
The past few weeks had seen an upturn in trade at his restaurant, something he put down to more people wanting to go out, and having more disposable income than they may have had in the past year or so.
He said that did not take away from the fact that, for some people, times were tough.
The Beach Hotel owner Pat Bryce said she was selling the business because she was about to undergo her second back operation.
She said for some in the industry these were tough times.
