Gympie business collapses, closures and openings in 2022
Gympie’s business landscape has changed dramatically this year, particularly after emerging from the region’s second worst flood. These are some of the openings, collapses and closures.
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Gympie was devastated by the worst flood in living memory this year and many businesses remain closed in the CBD as they were inundated during the weather events.
The Gympie Times put the call out to readers about which local businesses they would like to see return to the region.
From 130 comments, the most popular response was The Reject Shop, that closed after the extensive damage from the flooding events this year.
Other popular responses were Brodies, Happy Yak and the Green Door Cafe.
A full-sized Kmart, Spotlight, Target and Dan Murphy’s were also called for by residents in the comments section.
From closures and liquidations to openings and business expansions, here are some of the latest updates in Gympie’s business world in 2022:
Openings
Swing By
Gympie woman Erin Reddan had been a staff fixture at two different cafes that have occupied the same space at the corner of Channon and Mary Streets in the past year.
Ms Reddan threw open the doors of her new venture – Swing By – established in the space that has hosted other popular cafes including The Korner and Grace and Whiskers.
“It’s a little a takeaway place, you just swing by, say hello, grab a coffee, something to eat, and then enjoy the rest of your day,” Ms Reddan said.
Woolooga Longyard
A Gympie region family-of-four brought their small country town back to commercial life, despite being forced to start again after they lost everything in the January flood of 2022.
Caz and Matthew Crane own five businesses in Woolooga’s main street, Thomas St, a picturesque country town off the Wide Bay Hwy between Gympie and Kilkivan.
The shops, which include a cafe and green grocer, an animal feed and rural supplies store, a hairdresser, a bed and breakfast, and a licensed bar and grill, run out of the historic Woolooga Trader building.
Kilkivan Small Engines
The family behind an iconic rural pub extended their empire with the addition of a new repair shop in the heart of Kilkivan.
Kilkivan Small Engines, located on 6 Bligh St, is run by Jesse Drysdale and Jackson Panetta, whose parents took over the iconic Kilkivan Hotel Motel in June.
Mr Panetta is the owner and operator of the Bligh St business, while Mr Drysdale is the parts and service manager.
The engine retail and repair business is an extension of Grease Monkey Enterprises, and is dedicated to the upkeep and service of everything from motorbike engines to chainsaws.
Bloom Hair Studio
Bloom Hair Studio, located on the corner of Reef St and Channon St on the edge of the Gympie CBD, is hairdresser Michaela Dodt’s first solo project after beginning her career as an apprentice at Hair Review in Mary St in late 2013.
Throughout her nearly 10-year career, Ms Dodt’s favourite thing has been interacting with her clients and watching them transition from start to finish.
“It’s a place where (people) can come in and feel and look their best selves,” she said.
“When people walk in, they’re not always looking or feeling their best, but when they leave they’re always looking their best.”
Sage Financial Planning
A trio of well-known financial experts has opened a new business in the heart of Gympie.
Simon and Joanne Thomas have been helping Gympie residents for 28 years and now, together with financial planner Michaela Martin, have launched a new business, Sage Financial Planning.
“We could have a young couple come in, then they come in when they have children, then children get off their hands and they’re planning for their retirement,” Mrs Thomas said.
Sage Financial Planning is located in Duke Street, Gympie.
The Beacon
Family business Raffinatis opened a new cafe in Mary St which was well received by locals.
The cafe is run by Carol Weatly and her brother Leon Roulston, along with Ms Weatly’s daughter Peta Watson.
After previously renting kitchens for a catering service, they decided to set up a permanent space at Mary St.
“We decided to get the cafe and promote the meals, and at the same time bring fish and chips into Mary Street because people were saying they had nowhere to go on Monday night,” Ms Weatly said.
Closures
Morris Sawmillers and Co
A 20-year-old Pie Creek timber haulage company has collapsed under the weight of a six-figure tax bill.
Morris Sawmillers and Co, registered in May 2000, was placed into liquidation on September 23, 2022 by owner Glen Morris.
Initial documents filed with ASIC by Worrells revealed the company owed the Australian Taxation Office $115,704 when it was wound up.
Mr Morris said in his asset summary he had $58,909 in “associated loans” and $196 in share capital at the time of the company’s closure.
Pazazz Fabrics and Haberdashery and Doggy Days Grooming
Pazazz Fabrics and Haberdashery, a staple at the street for two decades, closed their doors after they were inundated by floods.
“It is with a heavy heart that I have made the decision to close Pazazz Fabrics after 24 years. It has been a journey I will never forget,” owner Charmaine Compagnoni wrote in a note posted inside the shop’s front door.
Doggy Days grooming is reportedly not expected return either.
Tin Can Bay NAB Branch
The looming closure of the Tin Can Bay NAB branch left the community disappointed and forced to find alternatives for cash.
The branch announced it would close on February 2, 2023, due to the increase in online banking during the pandemic.
“More than 69 per cent of our customers in Tin Can Bay are already using other branches, including Gympie, which is the nearest alternative branch location,” NAB executive retail spokesman Tom Crowley said.
While banking services are available at the Australia Post, the Tin Can Bay NAB branch was the only bank in the small coastal community.
Gympie Bone Museum
The Gympie Bone Museum has been forced to close its doors, becoming the latest business to succumb to the shortage of space for living and working in the city.
Bone Museum co-founders and owners Debra and Jaimie Cook, were asked to vacate the Fraser Road premises in early January 2022. The doors finally closed on Tuesday, May 31, after no new home could be found for the business.
The impact of Gympie’s flooding disasters of 2022, coupled with the ongoing rental and housing shortage, had made commercial renting difficult, Ms Cook said.
They have since held temporary exhibitions across Gympie, including the Gympie Regional Gallery and Victory Squash.
Businesses that closed in February 2022 due to floods:
The Royal Hotel
Barbers on Mary (expected to reopen)
The Reject Shop (expected to reopen)
Micakes Cafe (permanently closed)
Gympie Workwear
Hearing Australia
OCTEC Limited (relocated within Mary St)
Agents2Go (now online)
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