New World Te Rapa Is Waikato’s Top Shop®

Friday 22 October, 2010

New World Te Rapa Is Waikato’s Top Shop®

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

Amongst the glitz and the glamour of a sell-out event at the Pavilion in Hamilton Gardens on Wednesday night, New World Te Rapa, was announced as Waikato’s TOP SHOP®.

The store beat off 58 other finalists who made it through to the final stage of the New Zealand Retailers Association run 2010 Waikato TOP SHOP® Retail Excellence Awards, to claim the top prize. The 2010 Awards attracted a record number of entries from Waikato retailers and Wednesday night’s dinner was one of the biggest crowds catered for in several years.”

In welcoming everyone to the gala event Russell Sinclair, New Zealand Retailers Association Northern Regional Manager said “It is a real pleasure to be here again to welcome you all to TOP SHOP®. As you will recall we (the 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 would like to acknowledge the many Waikato region retailers who in a tough trading year still took the time to enter TOP SHOP®. I believe this year’s finalists have once again raised the bar of excellence and this will be recognized when the category winners and runners up are announced later tonight.

“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.

Sinclair 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.

The judges’ comment with regards to New World Te Rapa, was that “they (the judges) were impressed with the range of different products and specialty items in this store. The store layout is great and it is easy to navigate one’s shopping trolley. More than one judge has become a loyal New World Te Rapa customer based on their judging experience. Staff were always friendly, willing to answer questions and go out of their way to help. One female judge dislikes grocery shopping (her husband always does it) and vowed that when he was overseas and she had to do it, she was only going to New World Te Rapa.”

Judges also made the following overall comment with regard to their shopping experiences in the last few weeks. “Although the 2010 Waikato Overall TOP SHOP® winner is from Hamilton, the smaller towns in the Waikato have heaps to offer customers. The service from these retailers is outstanding. Several judges would be willing to drive the extra distance from their home to visit these shops. The personal service combined with unique products made for many enjoyable shopping experiences. Judges have visited shops they would never have walked into but will now return to and –even recommend to family and friends. At the end of the day, what a retailer needs most to succeed is for the customer to have a great experience and tell everyone about it.”

Category award winners were:
• Large Format - New World Te Rapa
• Fashion, Footwear & Accessories – Ziera (Kumfs) Hamilton
• Lifestyle and Wellbeing – Framing, Quilt and Craft, Te Aroha
• Giftware & Homeware – 3GTeak, Te Kuiti
• Specialty – spazioCasa, Hamilton
• Food and Beverage – Liquor King Hillcrest
• Start-Up – Green Grocer Hamilton East
• Online Retailing Award – Breastmates – www.breastmates.co.nz
• Sustainable Retailing – The Herbal Dispensary
The new category of Sustainable Retailing, sponsored by Meridian, was a very popular category for over 13 Waikato 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.
The Herbal Dispensary was the clear winner in this category. They have obviously devoted time and attention to the sustainability of their products and the impacts of their store on the environment.
The Retail Modern Apprentice went to Amy Gibson of Placemakers Hamilton. 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 Waikato Overall TOP SHOP® Winner walks away with a $10K joint advertising package from the principal sponsors, The Waikato Times and Newstalk ZB Waikato.

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. See below for further details.

The awards were presented at an awards evening held on Wednesday night (20 October) in the Pavilion in Hamilton Gardens attended by approximately 330 Waikato 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 Christchurch regions.

For more information on the 2010 Waikato TOP SHOP® finalists check out the NZRA website – www.retail.org.nz
ENDS

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