TRAITEUR EUROPEAN BUTCHERY is Christchurch’s TOP SHOP®

• Winners from throughout the Christchurch region
• Number of TOP SHOP® entries up on 2008
• 67 finalists announced in nine categories

Amongst the glitz and the glamour of a highly anticipated event at the Hotel Grand Chancellor Gardens on Saturday night, Traiteur European Butchery, was announced as Christchurch’s TOP SHOP®.

The store beat off 66 other finalists who made it through to the final stage of the New Zealand Retailers Association run 2010 Christchurch TOP SHOP® Retail Excellence Awards, to claim the top prize. The 2010 Awards attracted a record number of entries from Christchurch retailers and Saturday night’s dinner was one of the biggest crowds catered for in several years. The event had been postponed from 29 September due to the earthquake which struck Christchurch on 4 September.

In welcoming everyone to the gala event John Albertson, New Zealand Retailers Association Chief Executive said “We recognise that the last few weeks have been dreadful for you all down here and I suspect the rest of the country don’t realise quite how traumatic it has been. We have nothing but admiration for the way you have all responded and we really appreciate your attendance tonight. I trust you will have a great evening and I think it is really nice to have something to celebrate.

As you will recall we (New Zealand Retailers Association) took the decision to run this event every second year to enable winners and finalists more time to take advantage of their success. This wasn’t without its risks and we were a little apprehensive as to the numbers that the event would attract this year.

I am absolutely delighted to advise that we had a record number of entries and tonight’s dinner here in Christchurch is one of the biggest crowds we have ever catered for in the Garden City.”

“The sheer quality and quantity of this year’s finalists had made it a very difficult task for the judges. The overall standard was very high and all finalists should congratulate themselves on making the finals” he said.

Brian Finlayson, NZRA’s Southern Regional Manager, told us that it was the retailers who concentrated on excellent service and presentation, which covered many of the finalists in the TOP SHOP® awards, who would gain a competitive edge in this very tight market. They would gain the necessary market share which they would maintain when the inevitable upturn occurs.

Category award winners were:
• Large Format - Parkhouse Garden Supplies
• Fashion, Footwear & Accessories – Freesia
• Lifestyle and Wellbeing – Body Shop Northlands Mall
• Giftware & Homeware – Total Food Equipment
• Specialty – Groovy Glasses
• Food and Beverage – Traiteur European Butchery
• Start-Up – Mercato
• Online Retailing Award – Retail on Sale – www.RetailonSale
• Sustainable Retailing – The Lotus Heart Restaurant and Woodcraft Gallery
The new category of Sustainable Retailing, sponsored by Meridian, was a popular category for Christchurch businesses. It was gratifying to see so many entries from such a broad range of businesses. It’s clear that many retailers are coming to grips with sustainability in their business practice, and taking the time and effort to think about how to contribute, both as a store and to their customers.
Retailers in this category were evaluated based on their understanding of the environmental issues facing them, the actions they were taking to address them, their management systems (policies, meetings, etc), staff involvement and awareness, and influencing their supply chain.
Both The Lotus Heart and Woodcraft Gallery demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainability and so were both awarded joint first place. Both companies understand how they impact the environment both through the operation of their business, and the products and services they create and sell.
The Retail Modern Apprentice went to Michaela Harrington of J Ballantynes & Co, Timaru. Michaela was also awarded the Overall Retail Modern Apprentice. This award category is sponsored by the Retail Institute, the retail and distribution industry training organisation. The award is unique because it recognises individuals as opposed to retail stores.

The 2010 Christchurch Overall TOP SHOP® Winner walks away with a $10K joint advertising package from the principal sponsors, The Press and Newstalk ZB Christchurch.

Due to the large number of top-quality finalists involved in the awards, the New Zealand Retailers Association decided to acknowledge the close run competition with two runner-up awards for each category, with the exception of the Food and Beverage category which only had on runner up. See below for further details.

The awards were presented at an awards evening held on Saturday night (30 October) at the Hotel Grand Chancellor attended by approximately 300 Christchurch retailers and their guests.

TOP SHOP® has been around 22 years and has a well established track record of improving customer service.

The awards are open to all retailers. They also run in the Wellington, Auckland and Waikato regions.

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