Happy 2022! Well we certainly can’t complain about the summer weather. I hope you managed to find some time to relax and recharge over the past month or so.

We enter another new year with the lingering uncertainty of COVID, and now with Omicron attacking the border. Who knows what this year will bring, but best guesses/ wishful thoughts suggest that 2022 may/ potentially/ fingers crossed be the final act for COVID.

The precinct has had a positive start with the activation (finally!) of the traffic lights at the intersection of Broadway and Morrow Street. This crossing has been hazardous for many years, so lights here were long overdue. They were set to be up and running almost 2 years ago - very much a case of better late than never. Speaking of lights, in the coming months new traffic lights will be added at the Teed Street/ Broadway/ Train Station crossing. Many thousands of pedestrians, especially children during school term, cross here each day. They are forced to teeter on the small refuge island and weave their way through cars to get to the other side.

Having lights here was not our preferred option, we had much grander ideas, and dreamt of a huge “Mega Crossing Zone” from Remuera Road to Teed Street, however after seeing various traffic modelling scenarios this just wouldn’t have been feasible nor safe. I have been assured that all the lights along Broadway, of which there will be many, will synchronise. Time will tell.

Back to business, Newmarket is looking forward to a strong year, off the back of two years that have been highly unpredictable. We finished 2021 well, but certainly didn’t see the same level of post-lockdown shopping surges that we experienced in 2020. Some businesses have however reported record sales, so as ever we are grateful for your support. Hospitality, fitness and personal service providers like hairdressers, barbers, beauty therapists, physios etc really need as much support as possible. It’s a good excuse to eat out or order takeways more often, you’ll be doing a public service for the sake of the economy!

We had a slew of new stores open in the closing weeks of last year, and some very big names set to open soon, in fact Gucci will be opening later this month. Other newbies include: Sculpt Luxury Nail Lounge beside David Jones; Oscar Wylee on Broadway near Smith & Caughey's; Confide Barbers on Broadway beside House of Travel; French Country down the far end of Morrow Street; Body Fit Training in Kingdon Street; ÀIMAI boutique in Osborne Street; OFF & ON have relocated from Osborne Street to York Street just along from Best Ugly Bagels. And opening soon we have: Reece Bathroom Showroom beside Freedom Furniture on Broadway and Anytime Fitness on Crowhurst Street. And there are more to be announced.

Our developments across Newmarket are still on track: Mansons are well out of the ground now with their upcoming 6 green-star rated office block on Carlton Gore Road; the Fiore5 apartment building is also rising quickly in Kingdon St; we should see some building activity at The Warehouse site later this year with new apartment blocks and townhouses earmarked for the huge site.

Finally, many of our sectors are short-staffed, and with COVID in the community this adds even more pressure. So, if service is a little slower or staff are not fully up to speed, please be patient.

Time to buckle in and get set for an exciting ride.

See you here soon,

Mark Knoff-Thomas
CEO, Newmarket Business Association