This is how to revive the CBD: Hair Dude
AFTER seeing shops close all around him, Gary Strachan, the owner of the Knuckey St barber shop Hair Dude, has undertaken wholesale renovations to play his part in revitalising the CBD.
“With all the shops closing down and so many businesses going under, I thought: I don’t want to be one of those people,” said Mr Strachan, who moved to Darwin in 1979.
“So what I did was I started renovating and actually turning it around and going the other way — investing, rather than trying to do the same thing we’ve done for the last 15-years.” Mr Strachan has since turned what was a typical barber shop into an entertainment zone, with a bar, seating area, TVs, iPads and a PlayStation.
“The whole idea is to have extra services for people so we make ourselves a bit fire-resistant from any chance of going bankrupt,” he said. So we’ve put in something for everyone. For the kids we’ve got PlayStation, for the tourists we’ve got iPads and charging points and for the adults we have the bar TVs for sport.” A new graffiti mural and eyecatching vintage car installation also add to the vibrancy of the renovated shop.
Mr Strachan’s bar, which will stock all manner of drinks including local brews, could be up and running in a month after his liquor licence notice went up earlier in the week.
“It’s not all doom and gloom here. It’s still a great place to live and work.” he said. “The more we talk about positive change, people’s attitudes will change and Darwin will get back to how it was.”