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Shoppers staying away from Blackwood despite population numbers increasing

A CLOUD hangs over the future of Blackwood’s business centre. For traders, times are tough. Rent is high and customers numbers are low.

Jane Silbereisen from the Blackwood Business Network on Main Rd. Picture: AAP/Morgan Sette
Jane Silbereisen from the Blackwood Business Network on Main Rd. Picture: AAP/Morgan Sette

A CLOUD hangs over the future of Blackwood’s business centre — and it has nothing to do with last week’s storms.

For traders, times are tough. Rent is high and customers numbers are low.

Despite the population around the Mitcham hills having increased significantly in the past couple of decades, retail has not experienced a similar upturn.

As reported by the HillsValley Weekly last week, Blackwood Sound recently upped stumps and moved to Marion because its landmark store on the corner of Coromandel Parade and Shepherds Hill Rd was, after 46 years, no longer a viable place to do business.

Owner John Lawless said his new premises at Marion was larger, better exposed to traffic — and cheaper to rent. It was a simple economic decision spurred on by what he felt was a “stale” state of business in Blackwood.

And he is not alone.

Jason Brooker and John Lawless at Blackwood Sound in 2015. Picture: Sam Wundke
Jason Brooker and John Lawless at Blackwood Sound in 2015. Picture: Sam Wundke

Karen Curtis bought womenswear store Snazzi Boutique, on Main St, in March and said the single-biggest issue with Blackwood’s business centre was a lack of foot traffic.

“There’s just not as many people,” Ms Curtis said.

“When you consider that there’s this great big huge housing estate down there … we just need more people.”

She suspected people would bypass businesses in Blackwood and go to larger shopping centres because products might be cheaper.

“Maybe because local business owners here have to set their prices higher to cope with their overheads,” she said.

“This used to be a thriving business with a huge turnover and I certainly don’t have that.

“My rent went up a lot from the previous owner to me. It’s a lot of extra money to find a week.”

Karen Curtis at Snazzi in Blackwood. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt
Karen Curtis at Snazzi in Blackwood. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

She said businesses in the district were actively thinking about their future and whether continuing in Blackwood was viable.

“It’s not ‘will it get to a point’, it’s a point now,” she said.

“I haven’t been here long enough to see my first financial year and I will be going through that extensively.

“I will have a serious look at my turnover and re-evaluate it after 12 months. I’m not staying in business to be a community service to people.

“People are thrilled this business is still here, but I’m a business and I’m here to be in business.”

Tarnia Turner at Blackwood Florist. Picture: Cathy Mundy
Tarnia Turner at Blackwood Florist. Picture: Cathy Mundy

Blackwood Florist owner Tarnia Turner said shoppers had been turned off coming to the centre of Blackwood because landlords had not invested in the business district for years.

“Essentially, there are too many landlords, like in this centre where different sections are owned by different people, so nobody wants to spend any money to upgrade things,” Ms Turner said.

“Blackwood is very segregated which causes a lot of issues in the fact that it’s all very separate.

“They need to do something like walkways so people will actually like to shop … but everyone tends to pick one shop and then they won’t go to the other areas.”

She agreed that trade was not as strong as it used to be and that fewer people were walking past her shop.

In order to keep her business alive, Ms Turner started selling flowers online — which now accounted for more than half of her sales.

“Without it, I couldn’t afford to have rent and have an actual physical shop, which is sad,” she said.

“There are more and more little shops that are closing because they can’t afford to have a store.”

Jane Silbereisen from the Blackwood Business Network on Main Rd. Picture: AAP/Morgan Sette
Jane Silbereisen from the Blackwood Business Network on Main Rd. Picture: AAP/Morgan Sette

Blackwood Business Network president Jane Silbereisen, who used to own a furniture shop in Blackwood, said there were multiple factors stopping people from shopping in the town.

Her group had developed its own draft masterplan — which she hoped would eventually receive the support of the council and locals — to boost business in the district, including ideas such as accommodation and more carparking.
“To make a shopping precinct viable, you need to have a full retail mix,” Ms Silbereisen said.

“That means, of course, we’ve got pretty much every bank, every real estate group … but we don’t have a full mix of shops.

“We don’t have menswear or childrenswear. We don’t have the signature shops that perhaps different demographics are drawn to.

“We don’t have a little ice cream parlour and all those special things.”

A survey conducted by her group in 2013 found only 25 per cent of residents regularly shopped locally, and she believed a lack of retail diversity that could be found at larger shopping centres was to blame.

Alicia Scholz at The Marketplace Boutique in Blackwood. Picture: Matt Loxton
Alicia Scholz at The Marketplace Boutique in Blackwood. Picture: Matt Loxton

Nicole Hocking recently opened The Marketplace Boutique on Main Rd and said she specifically chose Blackwood because it was a supportive community.

“To be honest, I think for how old the business is, it’s actually doing quite well,” Ms Hocking said.

“It’s a homely community. They support local.

“I think the community will support us when they know it’s here.”

She said overheads such as rent were high, but she was confident her business had a stable future.

Mitcham Council recently revealed a plan to create a mini-mall on Young St, behind the Foodland shopping centre.

Mitcham Mayor Glenn Spear at the council chambers in Torrens Park. Picture: AAP/Keryn Stevens
Mitcham Mayor Glenn Spear at the council chambers in Torrens Park. Picture: AAP/Keryn Stevens

Mayor Glenn Spear said it was a small step towards improving business in Blackwood.

“My concern is that the people that own the bricks-and-mortar in Blackwood have let the whole precinct decay,” Mr Spear said.

“There has been very little development happen in Blackwood and they haven’t moved with the times.

“People these days, when they want to go shopping, want to enjoy an experience. What happens is rents stay high, foot traffic diminishes and ultimately, businesses move elsewhere.”

He said people wanted to shop locally, but people expected their experience to be a higher standard than they were currently offered.

But for the traders, who see the impact on their businesses every day, the answer is not so clear.

“I love these individual businesses, but unfortunately modernisation of society — modern, younger people — they want to park at Marion and they want to go and meander through the shops down there,” Ms Curtis says.

“I really don’t know.”

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Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/east-hills/shoppers-staying-away-from-blackwood-despite-population-numbers-increasing/news-story/229bad7ab3d08acc17dc81e06056b460