Caboolture businesses confident community will bounce back from coronavirus

A tight-knit high street shopping precinct north of Brisbane may be in the grips of a “massive, massive downturn” but they say they’ll come out of it stronger and more connected.

A HIGH street precinct north of Brisbane may look like a ghost-town at risk of a zombie invasion but owners say their tight-knit business community will bounce back

Minuteman Press owner Gill Kennedy said the Caboolture street had suffered a “massive, massive downturn” but insisted it would come out the other side of the pandemic stronger.

Brisbane businesses open: your guide to the businesses still trading during quarantine

Brisbane business owners warned on risks of changing staff roles

Willes Fine Foods at Oxford St celebrates 30 years during coronavirus pandemic

She said there had undeniably been “loads” of lay-offs in the area – she herself had been forced to let staff go – but she wanted them back when she could take them.

Ms Kennedy said at her end of King St, near the Train Station, the library was closed, the courthouse was closed, and only a handful of businesses near the train station were still open.

“The K-Mart turning into an online store at Caboolture Square is going to have a huge effect on the shops open in there,” she said.

“There’s been loads (of lay offs), especially for businesses that don’t qualify for JobKeeper, like myself.

“There’s a lot of fine print, a lot of restrictions … I appreciate the government’s trying, I know it’s an impossible situation.

“You have to work it out yourself. I’ve had customers from different industries who’ve flourished for ten years, who’ve had to close their doors.

King St, Caboolture, in pre-restriction times. Picture: Supplied

“We’re just the same as all the other local businesses trying to keep our head above water.”

Inquiries to her marketing and printing business, which served a diverse client-base including the local gym, lawyers, mechanics and beauty salons, had dropped by 50 per cent.

“We’re trying to come up with ideas to keep people motivated and positive, because it is temporary,” she said.

“We will come out the other side, we’re all very strong independent business owners, who’ve worked very hard to get where they are.

“It’s something that’s going to make us all stronger, and more connected as a community when we come out the other side.”

To that end, Ms Kennedy said Minuteman Press, which has franchises across Australia had started an initiative called Bounce Back Australia.

She has launched the Bounce Back Caboolture page, where businesses can advertise their logo and a special offer for free.

Dugong Cafe owner Teena Armstrong said the usually bustling King St shopping precinct was “like a ghost town” with the street going quieter each week.

“It’s like a ghost town, it feels like the zombies are coming. I keep saying it feels like we’re part of a movie,” she said.

“It gets to a new level of quiet every week.”

She said her business was in the Lake Centre, which had a lot of medical and government agency leases.

“Normally it’s a bustling centre and you’d be hard pressed to get a carpark. But now it feels busy if you have 15 cars,” she said.

Businesses around her, like the breast screen clinic, the dentist and the barbershop next door were slowly closing their doors as they went on hiatus or shifted to working from home.

Many employees in the area were government workers, who were also now at home.

However, amid the closed shop doors were some glimmers of hope: Wok Boi was still open for takeaway, and a few cafes that had earlier closed their doors were opening.

“From what I can gather, a lot of the cafes have shut down but there are two opening over the next week to do phone order boxed brunches,” she said.

She said her own business had dropped from six staff to one employee working three hours a day, and now offered a simplified takeaway board menu with different items each day.

“We felt if we had a shutdown, it would have been very hard to open. Just keep swimming, if that makes sense,” she said.

“Our customers are the best customers are the best we’ve ever had in our lives.”