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New Zealand’s stagnant economic conditions have claimed a new victim with the recent news that yet another of the country’s popular eateries has closed.
KIND Café in the Auckland suburb of Morningside, which former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern had publicly stated was one of her favourites, has permanently closed.
In a post on the business’s social media on July 7, its owners said: “We are closing the doors for good tonight. The sunrise put on a nice show for our final day.
“Economic conditions, spiraling costs, excessive rent are all factors in our decision to close.
“We have been going backwards for too long, hoping things will change but they haven’t, they aren’t.
“It is a super sad day for us. KIND was founded as a social enterprise to make the neighbourhood of Morningside a greener and healthier place to live.
“We have been part of this awesome neighborhood for seven years and still love it. We are still #morningsideforlife.
“[Owners] Cathie and Nigel [Cottle] will be working KIND’s final day, letting our regulars know and saying goodbye.
“Thank-you to all our neighbours/customers who have supported us through the good times, the covid times and the hard times.
“We wish we could have kept going, but it was not to be. Kindness matters. In a world where you can be many things, Be Kind.”
The café’s name is said to have been taken from Dame Jacinda’s encouragement to Kiwis to be kind to each other during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Numerous well-known New Zealand cafés and restaurants have closed in recent years due to the struggling economy.
The popular Vivace Restaurant and Bar, located in Downtown Auckland’s Fort Street, closed late last year after more than 30 years in operation.
“The ongoing effects of the past four years have had a huge impact on the business with the multiple lockdowns, our big flood last year, and now this past year of recession all affecting us,” its owners said at the time.
“We wish you to know we were left with no option but to close and this is devastating for us and our amazing team. Vivace really is a family so this is heartbreaking.”
Iconic local eatery Fisher House, in Highbrook, was placed into liquidation and closed down in August last year, and Auckland’s Conch Kitchen and Bar as well as the Chapel Bar and Bistro also shut their doors last year.
