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Category: Retail / Floods / Accidents

Retailers losing 'thousands of dollars a day' in wake of Hobart Myer flooding

Wednesday, 3 Aug 2016 06:59:50 | Laura Beavis

Adelaide Exchange Jewellers is losing $5,000 to $10,000 a day in revenue. (ABC News: Gregor Salmon)

Retailers in Hobart's Cat and Fiddle Arcade forced to temporarily close after the flooding of the Myer redevelopment site have labelled the situation a "terrible disaster".

The collapse of a section of the Hobart Rivulet wall on a construction site led to the flooding of not only the worksite but also the nearby Liverpool Street Myer store's basement.

The adjacent Cat and Fiddle shopping arcade suffered structural damage as a result of the collapse.

Myer's Liverpool Street store, which only opened in November after a seven-year wait for it to replace its predecessor destroyed by fire, is expected to remain closed for weeks.

Six stores in the arcade remain closed while damage is assessed and repairs are carried out in the worst-affected areas.

David Manning, managing director of Adelaide Exchange Jewellers, which has been forced to close, said his business was losing thousands of dollars a day.

"You're probably losing revenue in the order of $5,000 to $10,000 a day minimum ... and we still have to pay the rent and the advertising and the wages in the meantime," he said.

Mr Manning said the continuing closure of Myer and several stores in the arcade was discouraging shoppers from visiting the city.

"It would have a flow-on effect to all the traders in and around that general vicinity, I'm sure of it, and with some of the other stores in our arcade being closed, there's no drawcard and people are going to stay until everyone's got the all clear, I imagine," he said.

Student Flights was allowed to restart trading on Tuesday and team leader Alanna Porter said it had lost a similar amount of revenue.

"Because we don't have a lot of walk-ins, we've been working on our existing clients but we haven't been able to take any new ones, so we've lost a lot of money that way," she said.

Ms Porter had noticed fewer shoppers than usual in the arcade.

Mr Manning said there was little awareness of the magnitude of the problems caused by the flooding outside of Tasmania.

"It's a terrible disaster that's actually happened down there," he said.

"We're talking probably a bill in excess of $100 million when the whole thing's fixed up, so it's a very major thing in Australia for something like that to happen, and yet there's been no mention of it on the mainland whatever."

Some gains as shoppers seek Myer alternatives

The Cat and Fiddle Arcade Hobart on Murray Street Photo: Murray Street stores closed to business as builders work to repair flood and structural damage. (ABC News)

Businesses near the Myer site have also noticed changes.

Prue Clark-Campbell, who manages the Glow Cosmetics store in the arcade, said nearby cafes had been hit by a decline in patronage.

But she said specialty stores like Glow Cosmetics had seen an increase in customers who would otherwise have gone to Myer.

"Because a lot of the cosmetics that Myer sell you can't actually purchase anywhere else in Hobart area, they are definitely looking somewhere else for something similar that they can then purchase, which is where we're helping out," she said.

Cat and Fiddle Arcade management expected all of shops aside from Portmans, Cue and Jacqui E to reopen by early next week.

The rivulet wall, which collapsed at the site of the Murray Street Myer redevelopment, needs to be propped up and some damaged structures demolished first.

The discovery of asbestos exposed by the collapse has prompted the State Government to conduct an audit of documentation relating to the construction project.

It will look at what workplace safety measures were in place before the wall collapsed.

The Government said no-one had been exposed to asbestos and contractors have responded properly.

Hobart City Council has extended free parking periods in some of its multi-storey car parks to encourage more shoppers into the CBD.

AustraliaPlus


 

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