Van halo: the truck shop in New Zealand that drives off profiteers

Van halo: the truck shop in New Zealand that drives off profiteers

Painted bright purple and crammed full of everyday essentials, the Salvation Army’s Good Shop is hard to miss as it cruises the back streets of south Auckland.

Frequenting deprived suburbs that are targeted by predatory lenders, the Good Shop aims to beat the bad guys at their own game.

Jodi Hoare is the Good Shop project coordinator for the Salvation Army and first remembers seeing truck shops driving around her south Auckland suburb 30 years ago.

Loaded with electronics, linen, food and entertainment items, truck shops ply the poorest areas, selling goods at vastly inflated prices to people who can ill-afford them, and charging interest of up to 800% on loans.

People with disabilities or a lack of transport are commonly targeted, Hoare says, as are those with poor financial literacy, or for whom buying on credit is an attractive – or the only – option.

Prices on truck shops include a three-pack of tuna for NZ$30 (£15) and $59 for a 3kg bag of chicken drumsticks.

The Good Shop aims to deliver the same doorstep service but without the high interest and exploitative practices. It sells its wares at similar prices to traditional shops, and requires its customers to undergo a financial background check and interview with a social worker before it will sell to them.

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Despite the comparative rigmarole, the Good Shop is proving a hit in south Auckland, with the Salvation Army receiving requests from other parts of the country to expand.

“For some people, shopping from a truck is their expected norm. It might be what they have been doing for years and what they’ve seen the neighbourhood doing, or their parents,” says Hoare.

Although online shopping is the norm in many western societies, Hoare says about a third of houses in some parts of south Auckland don’t have the internet “so running an online service wouldn’t fully meet their needs”.

Larayne, a single mother from south Auckland, first heard about the Good Shop via a community Facebook page, and describes the service as “awesome”. She bought a mobile phone to help her stay in touch with family.

“I think it was a lot easier for me to be in my home and have them come to me. Not a lot of people have cars or transport round here. A single mum with kids that doesn’t have transport will find it difficult to get to a shop, so it’s so much easier,” Larayne says.

“My credit isn’t the flashest. I have been turned away from a lot of places … if the Salvation Army wouldn’t take me, no one else would.”

Most of the usual truck shop goods are available on the Good Shop, but some items, such as video games, are not. A social worker and a credit loan approver work together, helping customers choose items they need and be able to afford.

“We have taken that array of stuff we know is offered on trucks and refined it in terms of what we think is ethical to be providing credit for,” Hoare says.

“Rather than getting into debt for a Playstation, we think you should come up with a savings plan and buy it once you have the cash.”

Last year, the Labour coalition government led by Jacinda Ardern announced a crackdown on loan sharks and money lenders, in what the Salvation Army hopes will be an ongoing tightening of the industry.

The government now requires all mobile traders to pass the “fit and proper person” test before they are able to sell goods on credit, and it increased fines for sellers who break the law – they can now pay up to NZ$600,000.

Hoare and her team are in the process of evaluating the Good Shop’s success but have plans to expand to other cities later this year.

This article is part of a series on possible solutions to some of the world’s most stubborn problems. What else should we cover? Email us at theupside@theguardian.com