Christmas is crucial to Northern Rivers business survival

Shoppers are being urged to buy local this festive season,

Annemarie and Christopher Dove, owners of Byron Bay Candles.

CHRISTMAS is the height of the retail season for many store owners and many locals have been encouraged to buy local to help support pandemic recovery.

Annemarie Dove, owner of Byron Bay Candles, said that Christmas sales were crucial to local businesses as they head into the new year.

“It’s very important for all retailers, it’s that boost that carries you through the quieter months so obviously going through into the new year, this cashflow now carries us through … that first quarter of next year,” Ms Dove said.

Many businesses were confronted with challenges at the height of the pandemic including issues with exporting their goods or getting consumers to buy.

Byron Bay Candles is a local business based in Byron.

Ms Dove said embracing technology had helped her business not just survive but grow during the year.

“There were many delays with imports, so they turned to local manufacturing and we found that with a lot of Byron businesses … consequently we’ve grown since the initial hit in March we’ve been able to grow month on month,” Ms Dove said.

“I’ve got say because a lot of people turned to online shopping, through QuickBooks we were able to manage different payment methods … just to have those accurate figures was crucial during that whole period.”

Despite their growth during the year, Ms Dove said it was important that local businesses have local support as they recover from the effects of the pandemic.

“I would say jobs, thankfully through these last few months we’ve been able to increase our workforce with three additional employees, which is three local families you’re helping,” Ms Dove said.

“It’s just keeping more money back into the local economy.”