NO WORRIES: In the aftermath of a New Plymouth councillor's campaign against his shop, Hoyt Khuon said business was booming.

The furore stirred up by a campaign urging Waitara people to boycott a new food outlet in the town has backfired, with the business posting its busiest day yet.

The woman behind the drive, New Plymouth District councillor Sherril George, was herself the target of severe criticism as news of the controversy spread nationwide.

Race Relations commissioner Joris de Bres described Ms George's actions as shocking.

SHERRIL GEORGE: her campaign is 'dangerously close to xenophobia', the Race Relations Conciliator says.

On Wednesday she stood outside the door of Town and Country Food handing out pamphlets urging passersby to shop elsewhere.

"I think Ms George's comments come dangerously close to xenophobia," Mr de Bres said.

"I was quite shocked but I'm very heartened by the way people have both challenged her and disassociated themselves from her comments," he said.

Her actions also outraged Waitara residents and community representatives, with some labelling her comments as "racist" and "disgusting".

Of the 370 people who had voted in a Taranaki Daily News online poll by 9pm yesterday, 91 per cent said her campaign was racist.

Yesterday Ms George apologised for some of her comments but was not backing down in her campaign.

"It was not about race, it was about supporting our community and existing businesses."

Ms George said she would not be standing down from her position on the council.

Town and Country Food owner Hoyt Khuon said yesterday was one of his busiest days since the shop opened one month ago.

About 100 people had phoned him offering their support and apologising for Ms George's behaviour, he said.

"I say 'don't worry about it. I'm just loving what I'm doing here'."

He was not troubled by Ms George's accusations and chose to ignore her.

"It's good advertising for me, thanks to her."

Mr Khuon, 31, came to New Zealand as a refugee in 1998 and lived with his grandmother in Hamilton before he moved to Waitara six weeks ago.

"I'm a Kiwi, I have a New Zealand passport.

This was the first time he had owned his own business.

New Plymouth mayor Harry Duynhoven said a lot of people were upset at the campaign.

"People from the community are very wound up and a lot of councillors are very angry about this."

The council had invested a great deal into Waitara to help boost business and encourage people to the small town, Mr Duynhoven said.

Ms George said she apologised to the council and the community "for bringing them into disrepute".

She also apologised for saying she would investigate the immigration status of Mr Khuon and his employees.

"It was in the heat of the moment. I'm not playing the race game."

On Wednesday she accused Town and Country Food of being a franchise which was "sucking the community dry".

Mr Khuon said that Town and Country was not a franchise.

Recently Mrs George spent $20,000 fitting out half of a shop she owned in Waitara for an Indian restaurant franchise Masala Express, which was owned by a New Plymouth resident.

"It was an attempt to bring another piece of culture to our community which wasn't represented."

She claimed that Town and Country Food had been allowed to open without a notified application.

She would approach the council to discuss this, she said.

The success of Town and Country Food was a wake-up call for other communities, she said.

"They're undermining everything which has been done by all the other businesses in Waitara."

She was not acting as a councillor in her stance against Town and Country Food, she said.

"I was acting as an individual, a ratepayer and a supporter of the community."

Her protest was intended to raise awareness in Taranaki of food outlets like Town and Country, but she admitted it did not play out as she had planned.

"There's a lot of ignorance and apathy in this community and outside this community."

People who said she was racist did not understand where she was coming from, she said.

"They're extremely narrow minded and short focused, in my view."

Her message for other small town businesses in Taranaki was simple.

"Shape up before you get shipped out."