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Wine Cellar
The Wine Cellar is struggling to keep its doors open. (Photo: Mason Fairey)

BusinessDecember 13, 2022

‘It would snuff us out’: The Wine Cellar is down to its last drop

Wine Cellar
The Wine Cellar is struggling to keep its doors open. (Photo: Mason Fairey)

The owner of a beloved Auckland music venue says smaller crowds than usual and a proposed rent increase could force it to close for good.

Nineteen years ago, Rohan Evans opened the doors to a small Auckland music venue with big dreams. “We’re trying to do something with the music community that is more sustainable, and it’s generally worked,” says Evans, the founder of The Wine Cellar in St Kevin’s Arcade on Karangahape Road. “The main thing has been getting by, surviving and growing.”

Since 2003, that’s what The Wine Cellar has done, becoming an integral part of Aotearoa’s live music scene while providing a place for artists to learn how to craft their live performances. “You need places to build audiences and lock down ideas,” says Evans. “That’s part of what the Wine Cellar’s always been … We’re an important place for those more fringe musical things to happen.”

Along the way, local artists on their way to big things have graced the Wine Cellar’s stage, where rustic furnishings and pinball machines make it feel like a second home. It fits 50 people when seated, or 100 with the tables and chairs cleared out; artists like Tami Neilson, Reb Fountain, Delaney Davidson, The Beths and Marlon Williams have all performed there.

“There aren’t many active bands who’ve never had anything to do with the Wine Cellar,” Evans says. His supporters agree. “It is such a valuable part of our music community and eco-system,” says Neilson, “a place where up and coming artists can affordably gain experience and begin to build their audiences.” Hollie Smith agrees: “It’s so important to keep these small venues alive.”

Wine Cellar
The Wine Cellar can be found just down the stairs in St Kevin’s Arcade. Photo: Mason Fairey

All that could be about to change. The Wine Cellar remained afloat during Covid lockdowns thanks to government wage subsides and small venue support packages, but it may not survive what’s happening now. Since re-opening this year, attendance numbers have been trending down. “The cost of living has gone up, people are getting sick at different times and taking it easy and not coming out,” says Evans. “It’s snuck up on us … the last couple of months have been like, ‘Uh, what on Earth is happening?'”

Making matters worse, Evans says the venue is contesting a proposed 20% rent increase, backdated to October, from its landlords Icon Group, the property management firm owned by Paul Reid. “We’re trying to negotiate them down,” says Evans, who has struggled to get a response. “It’s hanging over us.” He isn’t sure if they’re being forced out because of the lack of answers. (Icon Group didn’t respond to a Spinoff request for comment, but Reid made his feelings known about The Wine Cellar’s neighbour Whammy Bar in a social media post earlier this year.)

How bad are things? Evans admits those lower crowd numbers means he can’t afford the proposed rent increase, and with a quiet January looming, the Wine Cellar would be forced to close if it goes ahead. “It would snuff us out,” he says. “Owing back rent to a landlord who is not particularly sympathetic is not something you can sustainably do for more than a month or two.”

The Wine Cellar
The Wine Cellar’s days could be numbered. (Photo: Mason Fairey)

That would be a massive blow to the local music industry after a wave of venue closures over the past five years, including the nearby Kings Arms, which was demolished to make way for an apartment block. It’s not just Auckland – Wellington’s Mighty Mighty and Bodega have also disappeared, while in Dunedin to OUSA-owned Starters Bar closed last year, and the future of the famed Sammy’s and Crown Hotel are up in the air.

A rallying cry has been ringing in response, with a GiveaLittle page set up, a Christmas karaoke night organised for this week, and multiple Trade Me auctions running, with the proceeds of the sales of a Playstation 5 console, speakers and vinyl all going towards keeping the Wine Cellar open.

Evans is grateful for the response, but what he really needs is a show of force to come through his doors. January, he says, is always the venue’s quietest time of year, and with that rent increase looming, his hopes are fading. “We’ve just been pushing to get people to book shows over January, which has always historically been our really quiet time,” he says.

For the first time since he opened the Wine Cellar’s doors, Evans is beginning to think about what might be next. “It’s what I’ve done for nearly 20 years,” he says. “This year has been the first year where it’s … a bit like, ‘God, I have to think about my plan B?’ But planning ahead it is difficult when you’re in this sort of financial hole.”

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Stocktake
We’re getting back in touch with the people involved in some of our favourite business storiees from the year.

BusinessDecember 13, 2022

Our favourite business stories of 2022, updated

Stocktake
We’re getting back in touch with the people involved in some of our favourite business storiees from the year.

We check in with the beer boss who gave up booze, the woman taking on the supermarkets, and the guy who built an adults-only obstacle course to ask: how’s it all going?

This is an excerpt from our weekly business newsletter Stocktake.

Hopefully you’re getting ready to log off and enjoy a great Christmas break. After this year, we’ve all earned it. Instead of usual transmission, this week I’m doing something a little different and getting in touch with some of my favourite people I’ve met this year. I’ll recap their stories, then update them, to see how things have progressed since we last spoke. Hopefully you’ll find something you missed, or a few things worth bookmarking to read over the holidays. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, and whoever you’re with, I hope you have a Meri Kirihimete. See you back here in 2023.
-Chris Schulz, business editor

The beer boss who gave up alcohol says his 0% range has gone ‘kaboom’

Grant Caunter enjoys a hoppy 0%er (Photo: Supplied)

Grant Cauntner loved beer. For 25 years, it was his job, his hobby, his life. As global director of craft beers for Heineken, he lived a high-flying lifestyle, and nights spent drinking his own product was something that happened frequently. “We would enjoy everything that the craft industry has to offer,” he told me when we spoke in July. “I was the craft guy going to South Africa, Mexico, Sweden … France, the UK, Brazil.”

Beer is still his life, but with a twist. Cauntner’s only tipple these days is his own beer. State of Play is his 0% brand that he launched earlier this year. Caunter’s entered a packed market, with many local craft brewers finding their 0% offerings are among their top sellers. He’s doing all this on his own while juggling a career in consultancy.

But State of Play has taken off in a massive way. Since we last spoke, Cauntner’s appeared on Seven Sharp and launched a second beer called Nectaron, a hoppier take on his original IPA that he describes it as a “fruit bowl explosion”. He’s constantly having to keep making more of the stuff because demand keeps increasing. “It’s just gone, ‘Kaboom’,” says Caunter. “We’re probably growing 50% a month.”

What he’s finding really interesting about this trend is the change in who is drinking his product. Zero-alcohol beers are no longer just for sober drivers or those who’ve sworn off alcohol altogether – the range is now so good that beer fans are also including them in a session alongside regular beers. “People go, ‘I’m going to have one between this and this one,’ or, ‘I’ll finish my night on zeros,’” says Cauntner. “They fit really nicely into their existing drinking repertoire.”


Sarah Balle is still fighting NZ’s supermarket duopoly

Sarah Balle, centre, gets to work with her Supie staff. (Photo: Supplied)

I headed out to Wiri in April to visit Supie, the online grocer attempting to take down the country’s supermarket duopoly. There, founder Sarah Balle told me she was spending every waking moment at work, packing orders, reupping supplies, keeping on top of trends, and fronting media interviews, all in the service of making her business fly. “Often I go for a nap in the car,” she said. “I’ve gotten real used to sleeping in the car.”

Balle’s seen solid growth since then. Supie’s added another 10,000 members (who pay a $100 fee and get free delivery, special deals and freebies) since we last spoke, taking the total to 30,000. Her product range has also increased, up to 7,000 from more than 350 suppliers. “We now offer a price promise so that customers can trust us that our pricing is competitive with the major supermarkets,” she says.

Thankfully, this growth means Balle’s no longer sleeping at work. “We’ve grown our team to 50, which means there’s no longer space in our office for me to sleep on the floor,” she tells me. “I continue to be humbled by our loyal customer base and continue to put my heart and soul into ensuring that all Kiwis have access to healthy, affordable food. The more Kiwis that shop with Supie, the more we’ll be able to overcome the power of the supermarket duopoly.”



Energy drinks are still bougie – but one is leading the charge

From mushrooms to berries, a new wave of energy drinks are taking over the market. (Image: Archi Banal)

Back in June, as Covid kept spreading and winter kept wintering, we were all looking for cures for our ills. Enter wellness tonics, optimised health drinks promising all sorts of health improvements. Cold brew coffee was infused with mushrooms, and sparkling tonics promised to improve your skin, help you sleep, even fast-track your libido. “You’ve got caffeine bringing you up, but L-theanine taking the edge off … lion’s mane for your brain, chaga for your body,” one producer told me at the time.

The standout drink then, and now, seems to be Ārepa, the nootropic drink made using homegrown blackcurrants, which among other things promises the possibility of improved brain function. It can be found in supermarkets across Aotearoa and Australia, the All Blacks down it at half time, and, it should be noted, Ārepa is often seen on desks around The Spinoff offices (their head office is in Kingsland, right underneath ours).

I asked founder Angus Brown how things have gone since we last talked, and he confirmed Ārepa has grown to 22 staff, with four in Australia, is ranked the number one health drink in New Zealand supermarkets and online sales are continuing to trend upwards, despite the economic downturn. That’s not all: Ārepa has closed on a pre-series A capital raise of $3 million. “We’re stoked to have some impressive brains join this round, including Kiwi NBA star Steven Adams, Zespri CEO Dan Mathieson and Comvita founder Alan Bouge,” he says.

That’s not all: Brown’s also committed to more scientific studies on exactly what Ārepa can do. He’s particularly buzzed about one that recently emerged out of Australia. “Scientists at the University of Wollongong found that our neuroberry blackcurrants have the highest levels of anthocyanins out of all purple foods in New Zealand and Australia,” he says. “They believe they may help delay neurological decline. It would be a breakthrough for Ārepa if found to be true.”


The suburb that’s being razed and rebuilt is still being rebuilt

Construction is everywhere you look in Te Atatū Peninsula. Image: Tina Tiller

The sound of diggers, builders and concrete mixers has become normalised in the West Auckland suburb of Te Atatū Peninsula. That’s because intensive housing has arrived in the previously spacious suburb en masse. Thanks to West Auckland’s expanded unitary plan, developers arrived several years ago to turn quarter-acre sections into multi-dwelling sites full of townhouses and apartments. They’re so packed in there often isn’t room for car parks (“On street parking” has been advertised, more than once, in real estate ads, as if it’s a good thing).

I wrote about this in March and can update this story myself since I call Te Atatū Peninsula home. Because financing for many of these developments was locked in during the Covid-fuelled property boom, the constant construction hasn’t stopped, and hammers and drills remain a constant soundtrack to daily life. Just around the corner from where I live is a massive development taking over two sections that will, once finished, offer 20 properties with room for more than 60 people.

The big change, though, is that demand for townhouses in Te Atatū is way down. As the property market continues to deflate, brand new townhouses are being offered for discounted prices (compared to what they would have fetched 12 months ago, at least) and Trade Me, at the time of writing, has 63 listed for sale. They’re still building them, but they just don’t seem to be selling. Which must make for a pretty bleak workplace environment for those still on the tools.


The woman who brings businesses back from the brink says the future is grim

I met Haylee Wrenn in August at a time when the economy was taking a turn. Things seemed bleak, and Wrenn, who helps small businesses cut costs, pull back and re-organise things, or close up shop, if required, agreed that they were. “My advice is to batten down the hatches, really think about where you’re spending your money, and protect your cash flow,” she told me.

Unfortunately, Wrenn doesn’t have high hopes things are going to get any easier in 2023. “Personally, I think the next 12 months is going to be the hardest we have had for a while,” she says. “Employees are hunting the dollars which they can do and why would you not? Employers are unable to compete without raising prices and passing the cost on to the consumer. They will not make any sales and their businesses will die.”

She has a few tips for businesses trying to weather this storm. “Business owners can reduce the hours they are open to manage with fewer employees, especially in hospo.” For those that are in strife, reach out as soon as possible to ask for help. “Get in front of the situation and make calculated decisions before it is too late. IRD are no longer the nice guys and are becoming brutal,” she says. “I personally have four clients who will sell up next year as business is getting too hard to continue.”

An 85-year-old has enjoyed the adults-only inflatable obstacle course

Megaland (detail) (Photo: Supplied)

Corey Ealand was at a kids’ birthday watching his son play on a bouncy castle when jealousy consumed him. Why couldn’t he have a go? During Covid-enforced lockdowns he decided to do something about it, devising the biggest, hardest, most dasstardly obstacle course he possibly could, then found someone who’d build it for him. The result is Megaland, and after a visit on a rainy day in September, The Spinoff can confirm it is mega-awesome.

Asked how it’s been going, Ealand says the response has passed his expectations. “We had an 85-year-old lady come and say it’s the best thing she’s ever done,” he says. “People absolutely love it and the smiles confirm that. People fly up from all over New Zealand, from Christchurch, Nelson, Napier, or drive from the Mount and Kaitaia.” For anyone keen to give Megaland a go, it’s set up at Mt Smart Stadium in the lead-up to Christmas (dates and tickets are available here).


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