George St retailers struggle to stay open as office workers continue to shun the CBD

One of the Brisbane CBD’s best known streets, which sits in the shadows of the Tower of Power, has almost a quarter of its shops vacant as businesses struggle while office workers stay at home.

In the shadow of the Tower of Power in Brisbane’s central business district, retailers continue to suffer from the Covid-19 pandemic as thousands of office workers stay home.

While large building projects like Suncorp’s new headquarters at 50 Ann St and the $2bn Queen’s Wharf development have brought thousands of workers to one of the CBD’s major thoroughfares, foot traffic continues to be well below pre-Covid levels.

A seemingly deserted George St in the Brisbane CBD.

A Courier-Mail survey found that almost a quarter of available tenancies in George St were currently vacant leaving large tracts of the CBD looking like a ghost town.

It found that between Herschel and Margaret streets there were 15 vacant retail tenancies facing on to George St of the 65 retail tenancies on what was one of the Brisbane CBD’s premier addresses.

George St newsagents Tom and Michele Cooper.

Tom and Michele Cooper, who have been operating their newsagency at the Roma St end of George St for 16.5 years, said they have never experienced such tough conditions.

Mr Cooper said while some food and beverage businesses in the street have had a “bit of a bounce” from the building site workers, they have seen their trade suffer because of the dependence on office workers.

That has also meant they have had to cut staff.

“We had seven staff at the start of last year and now we have only one,” he said.

Mrs Cooper described the impact of Covid-19 on their business as “terrible” with fewer office workers who usually walk in on their way to work after arriving in the city by train or bus.

“We are about 20 per cent down since the start of Covid last year,” she said.

“People don’t come in because they have to wear masks in their office so they work from home.

“We haven’t shut at all because we’re classed as an essential services and until people come back to work the situation will continue.”

A vacant shop on George St, in the Brisbane CBD.

According to the latest research from the Property Council, Brisbane CBD office occupancy levels stood at 51 per cent at the end of August when compared to pre-Covid levels.

In fact since May when office vacancy stood at 71 per cent, office workers numbers have continued to slide as restrictions — especial wearing masks — encouraged people to work from home.

The Property Council said their Australia-wide survey found that more than three quarters of respondents didn’t think they would see a material increase in CBD office workers within the next three months.

A quarter of George Street’s businesses are now vacant. Picture: Brad Fleet

Other surviving George St retailers also reported steep declines in sales.

Stuart Suit Specialists owner Les Roubin said sales had dropped by half during the height of the pandemic last year. Mr Roubin said there had been a slight improvement but sales were still down substantially.

Mr Roubin’s assistant Ben Schulz said office staff working from home as well as the cancellation of weddings and other functions had hit the business hard.

The lack of international students and international and domestic tourists because of border closures have also hurt retailers.

George St Mart manager Peter Su said his business had suffered a bruising 70 per cent decline in sales due to lack of tourists over the past two years.

Mr Su said the business derived about 80 per cent of its revenue from tourists through the sale of souvenirs and gifts.

“I have not seen a $100 bill for two years,” he said.

George St Mart on George St in the Brisbane CBD.

National Retail Association chief executive Dominique Lamb said George St was an important part of the retail face of the Brisbane CBD being at apex of the Queen Street Mall and a major entry point into the city from the southside.

“We anticipate that conditions will improve as people come back to the city and there are a number of initiatives to encourage people to return,” she said.

“But it really comes down to the fact that we have not had a lot of office workers in that area.

“Also, we’re missing international students and international and domestic travellers. People under estimate the impact of border closures.

“As well as holidays, they come to Brisbane to do business — stay for one to three nights and spend money.”

George St in the Brisbane CBD.

Ms Lamb said they were hoping for a Christmas period bounce in trade, especially with the vaccination rollout.

“We are hoping that office workers will want to do their Christmas shopping in the CBD because retailers are definitely struggling,” she said.

“At the end of the day we know the best way to increase foot traffic is to activate space and the buzz you can create to give people another reason to come into the city.”