Chatswood business owners cut staff, menu prices over Coronavirus fears
Struggling business owners are encouraging shoppers to return to a busy shopping hub on Sydney’s north amid growing fears over the outbreak of Coronavirus
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Chatswood business owners are encouraging shoppers to return to the CBD amid growing fears surrounding the outbreak of Coronavirus.
Popular restaurants in Chatswood’s main shopping strip have reported sharp declines in their trade due to residents and visitors giving the normally busy suburb a wide berth.
While no cases of the virus have been reported in Chatswood, restaurant owners believe anxiety surrounding the disease has contributed to many shoppers avoiding eating out in public places.
Star Capital Seafood owner Jimmy Liu said the number of customers through the restaurant’s doors had dropped by 80 per cent since the first case of the virus was reported last month.
Mr Liu said the downturn had resulted in the “difficult decision” to permanently close the restaurant from Sunday, bringing forward his retirement plans by up to two years.
“On a normal day we used to have 300 people coming to the restaurant and now we’re lucky to get 50 – we can’t keep going like this,” he said.
“I think people are scared of being infected and are choosing to avoid busy areas and restaurants and that’s having a flow on affect for the whole area.
“We stocked up for the Chinese New Year and had to significantly drop our prices otherwise we’d have no one come in at all.
“I bought lobsters for $140 per kilo and we sold them for $88 cooked. At the same time I’ve still have the same overhead costs, labourers, wages to pay – I’m losing money staying open.
“I was planning to retire but this has brought the decision forward.”
A similar decline in trade has also been reported at Tasty Eating House which usually serves up to 120 meals in busy periods.
Restaurant manager Sophie Liu said business turnover had dropped by 60 to 70 per cent in the last month. She partly contributed the decline to travel restrictions from mainland China announced by the Federal Government last week.
“At the this time year we usually have a lot of overseas students and tourists visiting for New Year but it’s been very quiet,” she said.
“We’ve had to cut our employees and staff hours. They usually have one or two days off a week and now it’s three to four days. There’s not enough customers around.”
As part of a community initiative, we are giving away #free #facemasks (limited supply only) in #Chatswood today. These are the higher-quality P2/N95 masks, which are difficult to source in #Sydney right now.
— ACY Securities (@ACY_Securities) February 5, 2020
Times in the video.#Staysafe #coronavirus #protection #facemask pic.twitter.com/PtEx9cV7aT
Figures published by the Department of Health show there have been 15 confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Australia including four in NSW.
The Federal Government said travel restrictions were among measures to control the outbreak.
Chatswood Chamber of Commerce president Steve Hui said social media reports of chemists in the Chatswood selling out of face masks and hand sanitiser had contributed to community concerns.
Mr Hui is hopeful normal trading activity returns in coming weeks.
“People are taking a lot of precautions which I understand but (shoppers) shouldn’t stay away because of this. I’d encourage people to continue life at normal,” he said.
Willoughby Council has also encouraged visitors to Chatswood, announcing last week the suburb’s Chinese New Year activities would be going ahead despite a series of other councils in Sydney cancelling their public celebrations.