Brentford Square Shopping Centre traders plea for public support
From delivering coffees to customers waiting for a hair cut to bringing fruit and vegie orders right to people’s car doors, a group of Forest Hill traders are doing everything they can to survive the second lockdown. Here’s how you can help.
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Traders at a Forest Hill shopping centre are urging the community to support them as the second stage three lockdown starts to bite.
Brentford Square Shopping Centre, an outdoor shopping strip, is home to about 40 businesses, with many family owned and operated.
Brentford Square centre manager Rachael Poldermans urged the community to safely support their local traders if they could, by ordering takeaway, picking up essential items, or ordering items online.
She said most of the businesses were family run and relied on the support of locals.
The Whitehorse Leader spoke to several business owners to see how they are getting through lockdown for the second time.
Top Shelf Fruits Forest Hill
Run by siblings Maria and Sokratis Pappas, the Top Shelf Fruits Forest Hill is a favourite of locals.
Ms Pappas said she was grateful for their customers’ support during the second lockdown.
“Everyone has gone back to shopping with their local green grocer, their local butcher, so we’ve been very lucky in that sense,” she said.
“The second wave is not as busy as the first one (in terms of the amount of produce people are buying).
“I think people have realised there is plenty to go around, there are no shortages.
“(Trade) is still very steady and we appreciate it — we’re very grateful to everyone who is supporting local businesses.”
Ms Pappas said customers could ring and place orders with the store and staff would deliver their items straight to their car without them having to get out.
Mr Pappas said they bought their fruit and vegetables from the wholesale market in Epping and prided themselves on selling good quality produce.
The store also sells a number of grocery items including bread, milk, pasta and cheese.
Ms Pappas said by supporting small businesses, customers were supporting families.
Albert & Power Butchery and Providore
The new owner of the Albert & Power Butchery and Providore in Brentford Square, Sadik Valani, took over the business about six months ago.
Despite two coronavirus lockdowns in that time, Mr Valani said customers had continued to support the small business.
“We try to sell good quality meat,” he said.
“We introduce new products and have specials on most of the products at the moment.
“We’ve had very good support from customers.”
JFM Hair
A hair salon exclusively for men, run by women, JFM Hair has been based in Brentford Square for the past six years, operated by co-owners Michelle Dittmann and Desi Pashidis.
Ms Dittmann said the coronavirus pandemic had impacted the salon greatly, with business down 50 per cent.
They are staying open during the second lockdown, but have reduced their opening hours.
“(The second lockdown) was a shock to us and we thought ‘Here we go again’,” Ms Dittmann said.
“But we know what we’re in for and we’re better prepared.”
“We are doing everything possible to create a safe environment for customers when they come in, we also have masks if people would prefer to wear a mask they’re welcome too, and everything is cleaned regularly — we’re doing all the right things.”
Ms Dittmann said if customers were waiting outside for an appointment they also arranged for a local cafe to bring them a coffee.
She urged people to support their local businesses.
“We’re the ones hurting much more than the supermarkets and bigger businesses,” she said.
“(We aim) to make our clients feel a bit better because everyone is going through a tough time at the moment.
“We feel good if we can make others feel good and special.”
This ‘N’ That Community Store
Popular op shop This ‘N’ That Community store shut its doors during the last lockdown, and has closed again for the safety of its older volunteers.
Operational supervisor Michelle said they took advantage of the closure earlier in the year, renovating the entire store, with new carpets, bookcases and shelving, and a fresh coat of paint.
“We were happy (about the second lockdown) because we were worried about the safety of our volunteers, many of them are over 60,” she said.
Michelle said the store had a loyal customer base and they were looking forward to welcoming people back after lockdown.
“We have a good community here at Brentford Square, a lot of locals that come in regularly,” she said.
Michelle said the store sold a variety of second-hand items.
“You never know what you’ll find in here, we’ve got a bit of everything.”
Money generated from sales at the store support the Lutheran Church of Australia’s programs, including hospital chaplaincy.
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