Owners of The Meadow lead public plea for Bendigo to support local businesses

It comes as hopes of a post-COVID boom have been dashed by a lack of customers entering stores and spending money.

Last week, the owners of The Meadow Bendigo, a boutique fashion shop on View Street, took to social media to voice their concerns.

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Kane and Matisse Barri, who also own children's store Juno and homewares store Gathered, say the industry is still suffering three years on from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We always assumed that it was going to get better now that everyone's stopped talking about [COVID]," Mr Barri said.

"But it really hasn't actually picked up at all for us. A lot of retailers from what we've heard haven't really recovered at all yet."

Located at Bendigo's arts precinct on View Street, Mr Barri said their stores experienced a boost when major exhibitions came to town, however it wasn't enough.

"We don't want to be reliant on just the tourists, we really like to work with our locals" he said.

"We understand not everyone has the money at the moment to spend, but the main objective of the post was to say, 'just try and think a bit more small than thinking large'."

Also on View Street, gift shop Made in Common closed its doors for good in January. Down the road, Hustler is also closed for the foreseeable future.

Ms Barri said Bendigo risked becoming "a town with no unique shops", dominated by online retail and major chains.

"Which is the reality because businesses can't continue if they're not making any money," she said.

"The thought of having a town with all empty shops or all chain stores doesn't seem very appealing to me, which is why we try and put our money, keep it local and support the smaller stores.

"We just like to think sometimes pushing that message across is hopefully going to keep the town buzzing and creative and the town that we all want to shopping and be in."

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One of the issues the couple recognised was a lack of foot traffic.

"It's weird, there's times where there's not one car or person on the street on a Friday afternoon," Ms Barri said. "We call it the little ghost town, you look either way and there's just nothing."

Mr Barri said even when the Bendigo Art Gallery did not have major exhibition there would usually still be "lots happening" in the CBD.

"Maybe in the last few weeks it's got a little bit better with people, but the sales haven't reflected that," he said.

On the corner of View and High Streets, Alium Dining owner Mark Brennan said he had also noticed a lack in people around the centre of town.

He said inconsistent weather, the "regrouping" period post-Christmas, and the rising cost of living could be to blame.

"Now it's sort of lovely and warm people are starting to come out, but still not in droves," he said.

"I'm not sure whether the economy is now driving some conservative behavior and [people thinking] 'maybe we'll save up and keep our pennies in our pockets and not go out and shop and buy things and spend money on going out to dinner'."

He said he expected to see more "hustle and bustle" at this point in the year.

"Why people aren't just out cruising around, having a look at shops and maybe window shopping I can't tell you," he said. "Everything's just perfect for it, but people aren't doing it."

Alium Dining, which opened in 2020, was adversely affected by the pandemic and forced to close its doors several times and limit patronage.

Mr Brennan said he was confident following those struggles the business could survive this year's lull.

"I'm pretty fortunate that I'm still here and very confident that we will get there," he said.

"But you've got to have a long-term view and making sure there's strategies in place to bridge the gap because we're not getting inundated by people and it's a real challenge."

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Across town at Mitchell Street, owner of children's store OMGBoutique Michaela Woolley is facing her own challenges.

Ms Woolley said she would struggle to make it to the end of her shop's lease in November.

Sales at the 12-month old business are down 30 per cent compared to last year and staff have had to be let go.

Ms Woolley, who operates a photo imaging business at the same premise, said crime and the behaviour of people near her shop negatively affected sales.

"I'm a mother of four myself and I'm not that keen on taking my little ones down the street without my husband with me because it's just not a nice place to be," she said.

"I think we are lacking police presence in a huge way in the centre of Bendigo."

Ms Woolley said she couldn't employ younger people because they would be "at risk".

Shopping habits of people were also a concern, and Ms Woolley said she thought more people would be shopping in person following COVID-19 lockdowns.

"We had all the online shopping and everything during COVID and now everyone can actually go in and see and feel the products," she said. "Now that we've offered this and we've got this for Bendigo, they're not utilis ing it.

"We are bashing our head against a brick wall and can't understand why."

Mr Brennan said people needed to be aware that buying local wasn't just a slogan, but it was the difference maker of whether a shop stayed open or closed.

"Hopefully get people to realize that that's the only way you're going to keep businesses afloat," he said.

"If you want a business in Bendigo, you need to support it."

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