Northland traders ‘struggle’ amid lockdown confusion and bills worry

The list of Covid casualties continues to grow with a slew of shops and eateries at Northland Shopping Centre closing down.

Swirling consumer confidence, the threat of more snap lockdowns and pressure to carry out expensive store upgrades top the list of worries among traders at Northland Shopping Centre.

When the Herald Sun visited the Preston mall this week it was busy — school holidays had plenty of teenagers visiting — although eight stores and eateries were vacant, along with two kiosk spaces.

Another two stores had closing down signs on display.

It comes as 93 businesses across Victoria collapsed last month alone as a result of lingering lockdowns and Covid restrictions.

Northland’s Degani Bakery Cafe owner Chafic Farah said trade had fluctuated at the centre around lockdowns — generally taking around one-month to build — although he had noted a shift in the most recent one.

“People have had enough — as soon as we came out of lockdown people returned and that surprised me,” he said.

“You could tell they were fed up.”

Degani Bakery Cafe owner Chafic Farah at his cafe at Northland shopping centre. Picture: Tony Gough

Mr Farah, who has run the cafe with his family for nine years, said a key headache heading into the new financial year was the inability to make longer-term plans.

“We don’t know what is going to happen, you take it day by day, there is a lot of confusion,” he said.

Naturalizer store manager Rita Dwyer said foot traffic at Northland had held up better in recent years than other malls, although she was worried about the future of retail.

“I’m nervous about the outlook for retail — how many businesses can last? How many more lockups can we do?,” she said.

“It’s going to be a struggle. I’m a store manager, not an owner and you can see the stress on the owners faces.”

Northland Shopping Centre.

Dan Board opened Mochima Music Merch, which sells music related clothing and merchandise, at the start of the year.

He took the plunge into a bricks-and-mortar location after pandemic restrictions killed of music festivals where he usually sells his wares.

“Trade was been OK, people are still spending money, it’s just a matter of being able to open,” he said.

Mr Board said aside from more lockdowns, a key concern was pressure from centre management to upgrade his store’s fixtures and fittings.

“All my customers think my shop is kind of awesome but it’s perhaps not in keeping with the corporate feel that (Northland owner) Vicinity wants,” he said.