Two popular Mangawhai restaurants The Dune and No 8 to close as country enters a recession

A pair of Northland restaurateurs have made the “bittersweet” decision to close two popular eateries in Mangawhai as the country’s sluggish economy and cost-of-living crisis drags on.

Lloyd Rooney and his business partner Mark Fraser posted on social media on Wednesday that The Dune and No 8 Mangawhai would be closing for good.

Their decision came the day before New Zealand was confirmed to have officially entered a recession.

Rooney, who also co-owns The Quay, Loco, and No 8 at the Town Basin in Whangārei, and The Cove Cafe in Waipu, said it had been “an incredible seven years of serving the vibrant Mangawhai community”.

However, “we need to concentrate on The Cove Cafe and the rest of the Town Basin”, he said.

“It’s been a tough year for everybody.

“Places are shedding parts of their companies that aren’t performing as well as the rest and we need to do the same.

“The Warehouse got rid of Torpedo7 for $1 and closed TheMarket. A lot of companies out there need to position themselves for the next 12 months which could be quite tight.”

Rooney said the economy had “100 per cent played a part” in the decision to close the restaurants.

Though the current Brynderwyns closure wasn’t a factor, last year was “tough” with Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events keeping people at home, along with ongoing struggles with staff shortages, he said.

Rooney said The Dune and No 8, located in the same building on Moir St under the same lease, had never performed as well as others in the group.

“We’ve done that for seven years and I don’t think it’s right to do it for another seven years.

“The catalyst came when we had to renew the lease. I couldn’t, with my hand on heart, sign The Dune up for another term. Unfortunately, we had to make the decision.”

The last day of operation will be this Sunday.

Dozens of customers took to social media to lament the closure of the restaurants, which they agreed dished up great meals and cocktails.

Rooney said 98 per cent of employees had got jobs in his other restaurants, and there were “only one or two redundancies”.

Both restaurants had been sold, though he couldn’t yet say to whom.

Rooney said he was “absolutely” confident the other restaurants would keep thriving.

New figures from the Restaurant Association of New Zealand show a recent drop in sales revenue for Northland’s hospitality industry.

The data, collected from Stats NZ, show $94.4m was made during the fourth quarter of last year compared to $96.7m during the same period of 2022 – a drop of 2.38 per cent.

Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said last year was “particularly tough” on businesses with rising living costs and poor weather conditions.

“Member surveys showed that 35 per cent of businesses cited managing customer downturns as their biggest challenge, with many noting a significant impact on mental health and operational costs.

“Hospitality, being a discretionary spend, is one of the first sectors to feel the economic pinch, signaling the need for adaptive strategies as businesses navigate through these difficult times, particularly now we are in official recession.”

The Northern Advocate recently reported that Northlanders are continuing to tighten their belts due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Shop owners and economists confirmed an ongoing decline in retail spending in the region during the past month, reflective of a downturn in retail spending nationally.

Stats NZ reported retail spending dropped 1.8 per cent ($20m) for February, compared to January, despite continuing high prices and a population growth of 2.8 per cent.

Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.