Portside Hamilton: COVID storm and cruise sector shutdown batters trendy retail strip
The ship has sailed on Portside Hamilton due to the extended shutdown of the cruise sector, with some traders closing their doors and others racking up heavy losses.
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Traders at one of Brisbane‘s most up-market shopping strips are literally waiting for their boat to come in with the shutdown of the cruise sector forcing some to close their doors and others to rack up heavy losses.
Portside Hamilton, which until March regularly saw thousands of passengers embarking and disembarking on cruises, is struggling to attract foot traffic with some outlets closing and others reducing operating hours.
And it may get worse with traders saying the opening of the Port of Brisbane’s rival cruise terminal at the mouth of the river later this year taking all large cruise ships away from Hamilton.
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P&O Cruises Australia last month announced it was extending the rolling pause in operations from Australia to December this year as it continued to take guidance from authorities and public health experts.
Women‘s resort and travel wear outlet Costa Moda says it has closed its Portside outlet “due to virus” while a sign on the window of the nearby Adrift clothing store says “for the safety of our staff and customers, we have made the difficult decision to close our Hamilton store for the time being.”
Cosimo Carvignese, who runs the Belvedere Bar n Grill at Portside, said he is keeping his doors open at reduced hours but estimates he would have lost half a million dollars by December unless things improved.
“At the end of each month, if I can finish up by breaking even I am happy,” said Mr Carvignese, a former executive with luxury hotel chains including Intercontinental and Shangri-La. “Pre-COVID I was opening seven days a week but next week it will be three and a half days.”
He said lunch and dinner periods were still slow with people reluctant to visit restaurants because of fears the virus was still circulating in the community.
He said that while he was not dependent on cruise trade, passengers did like to have a drink at his bar before getting on ships.
4“It could be six months before the cruises come back,” Mr Carvignese said. He added the landlord Brookfield had been supportive of his business during the pandemic.
At the nearby Pineapple Express cafe, sales have plummeted by half as cruise passengers stopped coming. A cafe spokesperson said the outlet was a particularly popular spot for pre-boarding breakfast and coffee.
Some businesses at Portside are surviving thanks to the reopening of sections of the economy. Sam Abi, founder of Urbbana menswear, has released a new selection of shoes and shirts as people start to get out and about more.
Mr Abi said he had recently sold 500 uniforms to an auto dealer chain. “Car dealers are doing well because people are using their released superannuation money to buy cars,” said Mr Abi. He said Urbana’s four staff members had been supported by the JobKeeper program.