Australians are being urged to get behind local businesses as the nation battles the coronavirus pandemic
It’s time to support local businesses – from butchers to local shops – as the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread.
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Open your wallets and support your local bakers, butchers and restaurateurs is the messaging from Australia’s business community who are battling the fallout from the coronavirus crisis.
As many businesses face being forced to close their doors due to new government restrictions, owners are saying it is still possible to help keep them ticking and prevent them from going bust.
For some businesses this means buying their goods online or supporting restaurants by ordering meals from food apps.
Retailers nationally have seen their sales plummet by more than 50 per cent as staff continue to get laid off and shoppers reduce their spending.
The Council of Small Business of Australia’s chief executive officer Peter Strong said it was critical for Australians to dig deep and help keep the doors of business open.
“Look after yourself, go online and wander down the street,” he said.
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“That will keep things happening until we can get through this and get out of it, it will keep shops open.”
He encouraged those who couldn’t attend bricks and mortar stores to jump online and support them.
The Australian Retailers Association’s executive director Russell Zimmerman said retailers employ 1.3 million people and it was critical Australians showed their support.
“If we don’t get back out and into the shops and buying ordinary socks, jocks and underwear it may well be your neighbour, a relation or a friend who loses their job,” he said.
“If we start seeing people lose their jobs the sad part is we will see the economy drive down very quickly.”
Mr Zimmerman also said buying from Australian businesses was critical to help money flow through into the nation’s own economy and this for many shops could still be done online.
“There’s a lot at stake, a lot of jobs at stake and we don’t want to see your son, daughter or friend out of work,” he said.
Toorak Cellars owner Lyndon Kubis, who has five wine bars in locations including Armadale in Melbourne’s southeast, urged Australians to help all businesses.
“It’s about survival so we can hold onto the staff as long as possible, as long as we have any kind of revenue coming in it means the longer we can hold onto staff,” he said.
“A lot of this is going to come down to an issue of people eating and paying their rent and energy bills.”
He said he would launch his first online sales website from today (Mon) to try and help boost sales which have dropped by 50 per cent in recent weeks.
Restaurant and Catering Australia’s chief executive officer Wes Lambert said Australian consumers would now have to make sure they supported businesses by ordering their meals via online food delivery services or direct from restaurants.
“We are advocating every restaurant gets on a delivery platform so they can continue to make their high-quality food for its customers,” he said.
Mr Lambert also said the sale of gift cards by restaurants would help keep them alive.
Originally published as Australians are being urged to get behind local businesses as the nation battles the coronavirus pandemic