Essendon businesses fear closure as shoppers avoid small traders for shopping malls

SMALL business owners in Essendon fear strip shopping will soon die off as competition from chain stores increases.

MOONEE Valley traders are begging shoppers to buy local as they struggle to stay afloat.

Buckley St trader Julia Mendola owns childrenswear store Chocolate Freckles and is frequently asked by shoppers for further discounts on sale items.

The 44-year-old single mum of two started her business 10 years ago, but has watched her sales plummet of late due to a long summer and the low prices of national chain stores such as Kmart.

ESSENDON TRADERS FEEL HEAT AS LEVEL CROSSING WORKS FORCE CUSTOMERS ELSEWHERE

BUSES REPLACE TRAINS DURING CROSSING WORKS

“This season is the first time I’ve gone, ‘oh my god, I have to cut back [on spending], I don’t know if we can pay the bills’,” she said.

Ms Mendola cried out on Facebook last week for people to shop local after watching a friend

close her doors because she couldn’t turn a profit.

“I open social media everyday and see people saying we’ve had enough, we are closing. So many shops have messaged me privately saying I’m so glad it’s not just us,” she said.

Julia Mendola owns Essendon business Chocolate Freckles and is struggling to keep her store open. Picture: Rob Leeson

A late start to winter meant Ms Mendola and other small businesses had to put winter items on sale early.

“Summer went for a very long time, nobody is buying [winter items] when it’s hot. Then it gets cold and the big stores go on sale and you have to too,” she said.

Business owners as far as Shepparton contacted Ms Mendola after she published the Facebook post about their struggle to stay on top of costs.

Ms Mendola said she was particularly sick of shoppers asking for further discounts on sale items.

“You would never ask that at the supermarket or at Myer, why do you think you can do it to a small local business. We feel like we sell a service to the local community, we get people wanting sponsorship for local schools,” she said.

This is a trend Essendon’s Marita Webb said she often came across. The mother of two owns homewares store Andel Homewares on Rose St next to Essendon station.

She said while the station’s level crossing removal was “soul destroying”, her business would still be in trouble if the works weren’t going on.

“There’s no one around at the moment but when there is, shoppers want more of a discount on sale items,” she said.

“The perception is that if you own a business you make lots of money, which isn’t the truth. I’m not in the business to make lots of money, it’s to make ends meet.”

Mrs Webb looks after her 22-month-old son and three-year-old daughter because child care is unaffordable, which means she is forced to hire and pay staff for the store.

Customers obsessed with staying on trend, buying specific labels, and wanting the cheapest goods they could get was destroying local business, she said.

Mrs Webb’s sales were down about 70 per cent on July last year, fuelling fears she would soon shut down.

Next month, works on Buckley St will ramp up, closing Rose St for about 50 days.

“I won’t be around, I won’t be able to survive,” she said.

Mrs Webb said she’s not asking people to ditch chain stores completely.

“It’s about balance. I shop at Kmart, my daughter is wearing a Kmart dress. But people also need to support our local economy.”

She said the death of shopping strips was imminent.

“Shopping malls don’t have the atmosphere or sense of community that local traders provide.”

However, Moonee Ponds Traders Association president Jason Farrugia said he didn’t know how traders were going in the area but said there were no more vacant shops this winter compared to last year.