I was honestly surprised. I've been to big stores in different parts of the world, most recently in Melbourne, and to find out that there was paid parking was alarming.
As a social Geographer (from back in the day) such ploys made by businesses could be seen as a way of excluding certain peoples from shopping there i.e. the locals as it is situated near a lower socio-economic location.
It makes me wonder why they used a Māori word in their naming of the Shopping outlet centre. They should have just used an English word because when using a Māori word there are certain esoteric values that go with using that language. They should have just named it 'Heart' instead.
I guess it concerns me because there are a lot of Māori and Pasifika people who live nearby and I read this as a hostile move by the powers that be to exclude certain people from the local community from shopping there. I mean why else would they make such a bold move in a time of a socio-economic crisis (still in NZ).
Or are they chasing after the mighty dollar of overseas tourists and don't really care about the local community. It just reads as privilege and discrimination and yes, I'm a local who won't be shopping there either. I'd also encourage other locals who have the monetary discretion to refrain from shopping there also.
Obviously, they don't need our money and they don't want to be inclusive so I'd rather take my discretionary monies elsewhere and if you feel the same spread the word. There are just some people who are about elitism and not inclusivity....
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