Style: First foray into style brings abrupt finish to 50 years of retail historical past

Another long-running South Canterbury clothing store is closing, with the finger of blame pointed firmly at Covid-19.

Fashion Focus, in Timaru’s Highfield Village Mall, will close at the end of September, after owner Suzanne Talbot took the “tough decision to close”.

“It was tough, but it was the right thing to do – you’ve just got to draw a line in the sand somewhere,” she said.

The decision follows the closure of Cameron’s stores in Timaru, Waimate and Oamaru, which closed after the company which owned them went into voluntary liquidation in March just shy of the brand clocking up 100 years in business.

Fashion Focus has been in business at the Highfield location, under different owners, for “more than fifty years”, Talbot said.

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When she bought the business in March 2019, she focused on developing special occasion wear and older women’s fashion as her niche areas.

But the pandemic made particular inroads into those markets, both during lockdown and in the ensuing months when events were cancelled, with many people, especially the elderly, choosing to stay at home.

In 2021, Talbot expanded into a new shop on Stafford St, which she said at the time was in response to the need for more space, a desire to expand into the younger and plus-sized fashion markets, and to support the downtown retail area.

But in retrospect, she described the move as “a supreme disaster.”

Talbot said she had been reassured by the positive economic recovery following the first lockdown, in which spending surged across the economy.

“It didn’t quite make up for the fact that you were shut, but there was definite a bounce back, so we thought, well, if we go back into another lockdown, we’ll get the bounce back which will help.”

But following the second lockdown retail spending dropped significantly across the country, with no resurgence in spending to match 2020.

“With both stores, Fashion Focus and Inspired on Stafford, we just kind of limped after that.

“We had terrible summer trading – the weather was terrible – and we went straight from there into minimal trade over autumn because everyone was sick or wanting to stay home because they didn’t want to get Covid.”

Talbot is clear on what went wrong.

“I’m not blaming anyone but Covid, it’s just a total Covid casualty. You can’t blame people for wanting to stay at home and stay safe, and you can’t blame people for not wanting to go buy clothes, because there’s nothing to wear them to.

It was Talbot’s first foray into the fashion industry, which she thinks also worked against her.

“It was not a very good time to be learning, it was not very forgiving on a beginner.

“I’d only had the store for a year before Covid hit, and it just wasn’t long enough. Retailers that have been in business for longer probably had more stock, they’d been able to build a bit of equity behind them and may have been able to weather it better.”

She said deciding to close the store was a “very, very difficult decision.”

“You go into business, and it becomes part of your life – people that you employ become really important, and you worry about your customers too.”

“It’s gutting, because you build those relationships, and then to be closing the doors on it – there’s been a store here for over 50 years.”

But she saw little relief on the horizon as the cost of living continued to rise.

“People are making do. But you know, that’s your clothing and your shoes – everyone’s mortgage rates are going up as interest rates rise, that’s perhaps your new top or pair of pants.”

Talbot will continue to sell select special occasion wear online, with viewing by appointment, and she does expect that market to heat up as events return.

“People are going to be wanting the nicer dresses, and there’s not a lot out there to be buying at the moment.”

And she said fear of Covid encouraged many of her older clients online.

“It’s been amazing how many of those 70-year-old plus – just since Covid – have been buying online.

“They don’t want to come out, so they’ve got their children to show them how to do it. To a certain extent, online is a lot more important than what when I first bought the store.”

Talbot doesn’t expect the location to stay empty for long.

“There’s amazing parking, it’s flat, there’s a supermarket here … and there’s a lot of window space for displays.”

Talbot said alongside running the online business, she plans to take time to refresh and reenergize, as well as focus on her children and elderly father.

She expected the store to stay open until at least the end of September, depending on remaining stock.