Businesses gear up for trade boost
LONG-SUFFERING business owners in Clifford St are overjoyed that extensive roadworks which closed the adjacent Goggs St have now been completed.
Co-owner of Absolute Batteries Brad Cooper said his business had just opened when it was hit by the street closure.
Customers avoided Clifford St like the plague.
“Retail customers are easily deterred and if there’s a road closed they’ll go somewhere where it’s easier to get at,” he said.
“The road closure really knocked about our drive-by customers.
“You’d be mad to set up in cul-de-sac and effectively that’s what we had, we just weren’t getting exposure.
“Since the road re-opened we’ve had customers drive past and say they just drove past and noticed we were there.”
He said the business was on struggle street during the closure.
“You can advertise and put stories in paper, but you also need people to drive by and make a mental link to your business.
“The council could have been more pro-active in helping businesses and could start a concerted advertising campaign to help those impacted.”
Mr Cooper said he was confident about the future.
“Clifford St is a busy street and being a new business, the sky is the limit.
“Because we’re new it’s hard to quantify how much business will improve.”
He said it would take time for people to start using the street again.
Reg Collins Car Sales owner Bryan Collins said there was a marked reduction in sales during the period road works took place.
“The walk-in traffic was down and it was inconvenient for our mechanical shop across the road.
“People said they were looking for us and couldn’t find us.
“The street was shut off at times and when the major intersection was shut for six weeks straight it had a big impact.”
He said the footpath was left “looking like a desert”.
“Our grass wasn’t perfect but at least we had grass.
“They only put down one strip of dead grass which just looks terrible. Otherwise it’s just loam which will get carted everywhere.”
Mr Collins said he was worried about how the contractors would clean up the land they were using when undertaking the work.
“If they don’t clean it up it will make a mess for months.”
The car dealership’s shade sails were covered in dust during the works.
But the biggest problem was the presentation of cars.
“We couldn’t wash them enough to clean them.
“If we washed them in the morning they would be dirty again in the afternoon.’’
Wayne Smith Smash Repairs owner Wayne Smith said the work needed to be done.
“We had two foot of water come through in the 2011 flood,” he said.
His business had to deal with dust and dirt, the cost of getting cars cleaned and finding enough parks for customers.