Dubbo businesses bouncing back after Covid lockdown
A crippling Covid outbreak put their livelihoods on the line, now seven kings and queens of Dubbo’s small business community share their stories of resilience.
Dubbo News
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Small family businesses were among the sectors of the economy hardest hit by the most recent Covid outbreak which led to months of lockdowns, social isolation, mental health stress and financial insecurity.
Many Dubbo businesses were forced to shut their doors with just a few hours notice on August 11 after the communities worst fears were realised when the first confirmed Covid cases were reported in the region and the disease started to run rampant across western NSW.
Despite the short notice, small businesses quickly swung into action and shut their doors to protect customers and staff for what was initially proposed to be a seven-day lockdown period which ended up lasting two months.
With their livelihoods on the line, some chose to adapt and find new ways of connecting with customers via distance. For other it was not viable and they shut down completely.
Despite the unprecedented difficulties of the longest local lockdown ever, which came after a lengthy drought and mouse plague, the kings and queens of Dubbo’s small business community have bounced back.
Join us as we celebrate a small portion of their remarkable resilience, community spirit, hard work, patience and optimism.
STUART GOULD, KINGS HALL JEWELLERS
Kings Hall Jewellers has been an iconic part of Dubbo for more than two decades and despite the extraordinary uncertainty the lockdown presented, demand for their products has not dried up.
Owner and jeweller Stuart Gould said it was a struggle to understand what work could and could not be done because of the dual functions the business performs.
“We don’t fit into a particular box because we’re retail but we’re also manufacturing on the same site,” he explained.
“Trying to figure out what was allowed and what wasn’t was hard.
“We didn’t want to break any rules, but at the same time were still trying to run a business and support employees.”
Mr Gould said while the retail side of his business and shop front was closed down, the manufacturing side was allowed to continue.
“Anyone that was comfortable to come in to do something was more than welcome to, as long as there was work to be done,” he said.
“We tried to change our website to be able to allow for more click and collect style, but that didn’t come through quite in time.”
Despite the lockdown meaning Mr Gould was unable to fit or size jewellery face-to-face in the traditional sense, he says customers kept supporting his business.
“Demand has not dried up at all,” he said.
“People still were getting organised for when they could get married, people were still getting engaged. People were still wanting their watch batteries changed and I think people also were bored sitting at home.
“It’s a pick-me up too, like if you’re having a bit of a downer and it’s the wife’s birthday and you want to have something a bit special we’re your one stop shop.”
As consumer confidence grows while local and national vaccine rates soar to word-leading levels, Mr Gould said trading conditions over the holiday season were expected to be “massive”.
“Christmas is usually very busy for us and although our workload was already quite large before we didn’t really catch up during the lockdown, so our workload at the moment is absolutely astronomical,” he said.
SHARON CAMPBELL, REAL FOOD DUBBO
There was no doubt operating a seven metre self-serve cold food bar during lockdown proved challenging for Sharon Campbell, but the Real Food Dubbo owner embraced new ways of being there for her loyal customers.
“A lot of those people have special requirements, they can’t have met at the other takeaway businesses,” she said.
“I had people calling and I was in here the whole time.
“I did dinners and that’s the new thing we’ll be doing here, ready made dinners.”
The grab and go service Ms Campbell started proved popular with customers and she said Dubbo’s second lockdown encouraged her to explore new ways of sharing her passions for healthy eating and living with customers.
“I’m very adaptable.
“I’m going to be setting up a new consultancy business as well, it’s going to be like a Commando, come in and check your kitchen fridge kind of thing.”
PETER SUTTON, HARRY’S FOR MENSWEAR
Since 1927, four generations of the Sutton family have been owners of a much-loved menswear business in Dubbo’s CBD and while they’ve weathered many financial ups and downs over that time, they’ve felt nothing quite like the impact of Covid.
“Our winter stock arrived in right just prior to the lockdown and we had no traction, no cash flow to sell it,” Harry’s for Menswear owner Peter Sutton explained.
“When we came to open again a few months later we still had all this winter stock that we hadn’t been able to pay for because there’d been no cash flow.
“Here we are sitting ready to open up for summer, the summer stock’s come in, the manufacturers haven’t been paid for their winter stock yet so it has a real knock on effect to our industry. It’s one hurdle we really have to get over.”
Mr Sutton said he was pleased manufacturers had been willing to work with some retailers struggling with the cash flow challenge.
“Hopefully we can get something in place where we look at all the oldest invoices and just knock them off as the cash flow starts to return,” he said.
“And eventually we will get on top of it all. We’re just going to have to tighten the belts a little bit.”
While the businesses reliance on events likes weddings and formals to stimulate sales had left it more susceptible to the financial pain of lockdowns, Mr Sutton was optimistic about the future given restrictions had eased.
“Hopefully the parents will be able to put their children in a graduation ceremony and hopefully they’ll by a new suit,” he said.
“One good thing we’ve got looking forward is that the farmers are going to have a cracker of a season.
“I’m optimistic, I think we’ll have a pretty good lead up to Christmas and hopefully as December rolls through we might have a bit more easing of restrictions and people will be a little bit more comfortable with the way the government’s allowed us to move through this pandemic as such.”
MELANIE THOMPSON, LAVISH AND TEMPT
As the owner of two small businesses in the Riverdale Shopping Centre, Melanie Thompson said she found it easier to shut the doors to both during the last lockdown.
“Tempt really gets customers from the cinema and with it being shut it wasn’t worth opening,” the Lavish and Tempt owner said.
When the first lockdown came in March 2020, Ms Thompson offered a takeaway service but this time it was not a feasible option.
“It just wasn’t viable, you’re not making the profit to be able to even have the doors open unfortunately,” she said.
Like all small business owners The Dubbo News spoke to, Ms Thompson was grateful for the financial support offered by governments which helped ease the pain of lockdown.
“Luckily my partner is a real estate agent and he was still able to work so we had that as well,” she said.
Since reopening Lavish Ms Thompson has welcomed back many of her customers, however some anxiety about the risk of being exposed to Covid has not gone away.
“I think people are very cautious.
“It’s still in the back of everyone’s minds. We’ve just got to hold out hope, our fingers are crossed.”
AMANDA AND ROB ZATTA, BLUE GUM MOTEL
The ability to dip into their savings helped Blue Gum Motel owners Amanda and Rob Zatta keep staff on the books and cushion a dramatic fall in occupancy levels during the lockdown.
Corporate guests make up the bulk of their clientele so the effects of lockdown were felt instantly by the Zatta’s when Greater Sydney went into lockdown before regional NSW.
“Being a four-and-a-half star property, we run close to 100 per cent occupancy and during this lockdown … we dropped down to probably on average between 20 and 30 per cent occupancy,” Mrs Zatta said.
“We’re still not anywhere back to normal, we’re only half full.”
Mr Zatta said because NSW managed to avoid lengthy lockdowns in the 2020-21 financial year, the business had a cushion to fall back on when trouble struck in July this year.
“If last year was like this year, then it would be a very difficult time for everybody,” he said.
“Job Keeper made the transition during lockdown and then after lockdown, and keeping staff on, a lot easier than this lockdown.
“The problem with this lockdown was, the way the government wage subsidy was structured, most of our housekeepers weren’t entitled to it. Plus there was no incentive to keep staff members attached to the business.”
Fearing the loss of staff they worked hard to recruit, the Zatta’s used their savings to help keep housekeepers employed during the lockdown, even though guest numbers plummeted.
“We literally spring cleaned every room to the nth degree, we just found jobs,” Mrs Zatta said.
“One of our ladies likes gardening so she would do the weeding.”
When Queensland reopens its borders in coming weeks and there’s a likely increase in travellers along the Newell Highway connecting Brisbane to Melbourne, the Zatta’s predict it’ll lead to a healthy holiday season.
“Usually on Christmas Day it’s just the odd family that come to Dubbo to visit family, this year we’re almost full on Christmas Day,” Mrs Zatta said.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of people connecting with their family and not everyone can stay with their family, or want to.”
REBEKA FARMILO, THE ATHLETE’S FOOT
Like most workers The Athlete’s Foot Dubbo manager Rebeka Farmilo couldn’t wait to get back to her job after two months cooped up at home.
“It was a struggle going from my normal weekly wage to just the $750 Covid supplement but you had to adjust, there was no point in dwelling on it,” she said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited, I’m pleased just to have that social interaction and to be able to come to work and have some normality back.”
Mrs Farmilo said she felt for her friends and local Athlete’s Foot owners Craig and Lisa Johnston, who were “literally without their business” during lockdown.
“Even though we were shut the bills had to keep getting paid,” she said.
“We couldn’t actually fit the shoes and measure people and do what we normally would do so it was hard to tell people what they needed over the phone.
“The click and collect was good if they knew what they were after and their sizes and things.”
Since reopening a steady flow of customers had returned to the store and Mrs Farmilo said her team were hoping for a busy Christmas and back to school period.
“It’s always a tricky time for us this time of year anyway because we’re normally busy come January because it’s back to school.
“All thing will go back to kind of normal for us, we’ll have our half yearly clearance coming up over Christmas, dates have been shuffled around to help the supply.”
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