Golden Age: Parking nightmares hold back business success
FOR the retail sector to boom, there needs to be people on the floor, browsing shops. But that isn’t the case on the Gold Coast according to one business owner.
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SMALL business owners in the retail sector say they are literally facing a roadblock — congestion and parking.
Retail, predicted to continue as one for the top five employers in the next 10 years, continues to be hindered by infrastructure failing to keep pace with growth, says Mandy Bell, owner of Burleigh-based The Freedom State.
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She said while her clothing business remained strong her biggest blight was something as simple as parking.
“Parking on a whole is something that customers have trouble with in Burleigh Heads. We need more.”
Ms Bell said Gold Coast City Council’s move to the new paid and time-restricted parking model was to increase vehicle turnover and reduce congestion in highly popular areas.
She said that had not happened.
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Instead, she said clients saw the change as deterrent and reason not to stay and browse.
Last year, the local designer opened a second store on the Gold Coast, but has focused on furthering the brand online.
“I felt that to succeed I needed to be really niched, so that was why I created The Freedom State — Bohemian Inspired Online.”
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