Newstalk ZB
While Auckland’s hospitality industry remains under pressure, it is still far from dead, with a new bar giving it a shot on Ponsonby Rd. A new venue called Matchbox will move into Deadshot’s premises after the cocktail bar in the city centre closes its doors next weekend. Owners Ali Walker and Heather Garland announced the sale of the late-night watering hole on Tuesday. The new owners are hospitality veterans Kamal Haggerty, who has run venues around Australasia, and Alejandro Vasquez, who is part-owner and head chef at Milenta in Victoria Park Market. Haggerty told the Herald that despite the negative economic narratives going around, hospitality is alive and kicking. “I feel there’s so much doom and gloom around hospitality, but we’ve actually got great people in the game. It’s a great time to do something. We’re only going to lift it up ourselves,” Haggerty said. Company liquidations rose 17% year on year in April and are tracking towards their highest levels since 2010, according to Centrix. Hospitality is the second-largest contributor and the fastest rising, with 414 liquidations recorded, up 49% year on year. Haggerty said Matchbox is going to be a new concept but will pay respect to the space Deadshot created. “We’re not going to do a lot to the interior of the building. We think it’s beautiful. It’s aged perfectly, and there’s a lot of beauty in that. We’ll respect that and love that,” he said. Part of the attraction to opening a venue at 45 Ponsonby Rd, while other businesses were closing, was the size and scope of the building. “It’s a space that I can be an owner-operator in. That we can inhabit ourselves, which really plays to a lot of things going on right now.” Haggerty said the venue’s size means it can run without too many staff, keeping costs down. “We’re doing this on the smell of an oily rag. It is blood, sweat and tears, and all hands on. We’re not operating with some giant team where everyone has one role.” Deadshot will have its last day on June 13 and Haggerty said they’ll start working on the project from there. “We’re looking [to open] probably around early next month... But how long is a piece of string? How long does the liquor licence take to come through?” Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Kristy Phillips said despite the challenges at the moment, new venues continue to open nationwide. “Passion remains for starting hospitality venues,” she said. “There are lots of factors that go into running a great hospo business, including location and cost management but the determining factor for most is creating a sense of community and sociability in a venue – be that a cafe, bar or restaurant.”
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