In the last two decades, the retail sector has experienced unprecedented upheaval, having severe implications for economic development and sustenance of traditional inner-city retail districts. In the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, this effect has been exacerbated by a series of earthquakes in 2010/2011 which destroyed much of the traditional retail precinct of the city. After extensive rebuild activity of the city’s infrastructure, the momentum of retailers returning to the inner city was initially sluggish but eventually gathered speed supported by increased international visitation. In early 2020, the return to retail normality came to an abrupt halt after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses spending and transaction data to analyze the compounding impact of the earthquake’s aftermath, shift to online shopping, and the retail disruption in the Christchurch central retail precinct because of COVID-19. The findings illustrate how consumers through their spending respond to different types of external shocks, altering their consumption patterns and retail mode (offline and online) to cope with an ever-changing retail landscape. Each event triggers different spending patterns that have some similarities but also stark differences, having implications for a sustainable and resilient retail industry in Christchurch. Implications for urban retail precinct development are also discussed.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Damage to the Bus Exchange on Lichfield Street caushed by the 23 December 2011 aftershock".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The partially-demolished Hotel Grand Chancellor viewed from Worcester Street, the lean on the left still visible".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The IRD building on Cashel Street seen from across the demolition site of the Occidental Hotel on Hereford Street".
A photograph of a partially-demolished building on Hereford Street.
A photograph of an earthquake-damaged building on Hereford Street.
A photograph of a building with a stripped interior on the corner of Hereford Street and Woolsack Lane.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "210 Tuam Street".
Building rubble and liquefaction on the footpath outside the former Public Library on the corner of Hereford Street and Cambridge Terrace.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "This bracing installed after September, didn't prove adequate in February and June".
A photograph of a building's roof lying on the ground, captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A collapsed building on Ash Street".
A photograph of earthquake-damaged buildings, captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Damaged building along Lichfield Street".
A photograph of damaged buildings, captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Lichfield Street".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Cashel Street".
A photograph of the partially-demolished Hotel Grand Chancellor with the Holiday Inn to the left as well as two large cranes.
A photograph of the partially-demolished Hotel Grand Chancellor.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The BNZ building (going) and the Millennium Hotel (staying), in Cathedral Square".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The diggers just keep on getting bigger and bigger it seems".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A pile of bricks which have crumbled from a wall and landed on a digger at a demolition on Lichfield Street. This is a result of the 23 December 2011 earthquake".
A photograph of an excavator parked on a demolition site on Hereford Street.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The view from Cashel Street south towards Bedford Row".
A photograph of the window of a shop on Cashel Street with USAR codes spray-painted on the door.
A photograph of an earthquake-damaged brick building, with demolition equipment in the foreground.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The Clarendon Tower on the corner of Worcester Street and Oxford Terrace with a crane next to it".
The former Canterbury Public Library building on the corner of Hereford Street and Cambridge Terrace. The building has been encircled by a safety fence to protect pedestrians and motorists from falling masonry.
Damaged masonry at the top of the former Canterbury Jockey Club building on Oxford Terrace.
A photograph captioned by Paul Corliss, "Watermark River Precinct construction starts, at the boatshed on the Avon".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Chancery Lane, looking south from Gloucester Street".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The side of 147 Hereford Street where Community House has been demolished".
A close-up view of damage to the former Public Library on the corner of Hereford Street and Cambridge Terrace. Cracks in the brickwork can be seen.