Annah Stretton High Street store at its lowest

Annah Stretton High Street store at its lowest

Friday, 4 March 2011, 4.50pm
Press Release: Stretton Clothing Company Ltd.

Annah Stretton's flagship store was hit hard by last Tuesday’s earthquake but the real loss will depend on how long the store is out of action.

Christchurch resident and store manager, Angela Gilmour has visited the High Street shop since the quake and reports that there has been some structural damage, which is expected as it is a two-story building in the heart of the CBD, but the store is unable to be accessed to determine exactly how much damage was sustained. The store is likely to be uninhabitable for the next 12 weeks; potentially costing the company around a quarter of a million dollars in lost sales.

CEO of Stretton Clothing Company, Annah Stretton was overseas showing at London Fashion Week with Ms Gilmour at the time of the quake.

“The quake hit at 11.51pm in England, my team called the hotel and were put through to my room just after midnight to let us know there had been another ‘huge’ earthquake in Christchurch after they had managed to reach one of the team in-store at the time and determined that they were safe,” Annah said.

The travellers weren’t due to arrive back in New Zealand until the 26th of February. It was an anxious wait especially for Angela whose two children were in Christchurch.

“I woke up to 23 messages on my cellphone which was on silent,” said Angela who is also a volunteer fire-fighter in Christchurch. “I turned on Sky News and the first thing I see is my mother on a Youtube clip walking away from the RSA in Sumner which was crushed by rocks.”

Angela’s daughter, Isobel Devereux was a block away from the High Street store when the quake hit.

“We were going past some condemned buildings at the time and luckily my boyfriend, who was driving, had the sense to move away from that side of the road. The car behind us got crushed.”

She ran to the store where her friend and colleague, Natalie Moreton was working.

“I turned the corner and was hoping and praying the store wasn’t flattened and luckily it wasn’t. Natalie was in a daze. She was so white and crying hysterically. I grabbed her and we got out of there.”

Isobel and Natalie have been relocated to the upper North Island and are currently working from stores in the Bay of Plenty and Auckland regions. Angela currently remains in Christchurch and is lending her support to the area as part of her duties in the Volunteer Fire Service.

At this time it is uncertain when the store will reopen. The company is currently looking into opening another premise in the Canterbury region.

The Stretton Clothing Company’s head office, based in Morrinsville has received numerous calls and emails from customers enquiring about the safety of our team. We thank these people for their thoughts.

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