Retailers close doors as trade continues to slump in Dandenong’s CBD

Dandenong’s once-thriving food and retail hub is now a ghost town, with almost 40 shops and eateries closed, vacant or boarded up. And traders say the pandemic struck as their calls to fix another long-standing problem went ignored.

Traders in central Dandenong are begging shoppers to support the once-thriving precinct, with dozens of shops closing their doors amid the coronavirus crisis.

The Greater Dandenong Leader visited the precinct last week and found almost 40 shops and eateries closed, vacant or boarded up.

It’s understood some of the stores affected also went under at least six months before the height of the pandemic in March.

McCrae St fashion store worker Sarah Clifton said the pandemic had hit businesses “very hard” in the area.

“There are so many shops up for lease now, COVID-19 really did hit them hard. We have been really lucky as our store has been swamped since reopening,” Ms Clifton said.

She said it was concerning the Dimmeys store on Langhorne St had not yet reopened.

“It’s really surprising that Dimmeys is still shut as it’s usually busy,” she said.

“I’ve tried to call their head office several times but no one has got back to me, there has been a seagull stuck inside the store since it shut in April.”

Dimmeys in Dandenong has been shut since April.

Greater Dandenong council’s business, engineering and major projects director Paul Kearsley told the Leader the group had waived rent until June 30 for “many” commercial leaseholders who were forced to close and that rent was slashed by half for those who were still open.

He said council also committed more than $4 million to help support the most hard-hit traders.

“While business owners in Greater Dandenong are being encouraged to pay their

rates and charges, businesses who can’t have been given the option to defer their

rates until June 30,” Mr Kearsley said.

“Penalty interest has been on hold since March 1 and will remain until at the least the end of the financial year.”

Evoke Supplements co-owner Nav Khullar said he had seen dozens of shops shut their doors in recent months.

“It’s not just the coronavirus that’s shut these businesses, the area was seriously struggling before that, some shops have been vacant for years,” Mr Khullar said.

“All of my customers say they can’t find carparking on Foster St and surrounding streets. They have to park all the way at the courts and walk down, it’s terrible,” he said.

“I hope the council can really think about revitalising the area and include sufficient parking along the main shopping strips, it’s the only way businesses will survive.”

Radical Records owner Mark Mannens said his Hub Arcade shop was “extremely busy” since reopening last week.

“It’s been really great to see our customers out and about, now more than ever is the time to support local businesses,” Mr Mannens said.

Dandenong’s popular Lonsdale St strip was eerily quiet on Friday.

According to the ABS, one in 16 weekly paid jobs in the Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia regions were lost between March 14 and April 18 (6.3 per cent), compared to Mornington Peninsula (7.9 per cent) and Kingston and Bayside (6.7 per cent).

The food and accommodation industry was the most hard-hit across the state (32.6 per cent of jobs lost) followed by arts and recreation services — including sporting clubs and gambling venues — on 23.5 per cent.

Mandy Ratcliffe from training and employment agency AMES said the group’s caseload had tripled since the coronavirus outbreak, with more than 250 unemployed people from the area applying for job assistance since April.

Dozens of businesses in Dandenong have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

“There is a tremendous variety of clients coming in from every single sort of job you can think of,” she said.

“We’re helping 10-15 clients a day, with the caseload doubling and even tripling compared to our average days.”

Ms Ratcliffe urged any employers looking for workers to contact the group immediately as they tried to find ‘saviour jobs’ — temporary work as people kept active search for their ultimate career.

MORE NEWS

SCHOOLGIRL STALKER ALLEGEDLY FOLLOWED CHILDREN IN 2017

BEST OF MELBOURNE 2020: CITY’S TOP 10 VETS REVEALED

TRADIES REVEAL THE BEST TAKEAWAY FOOD OUTLETS IN MELBOURNE

“Most people are feeling quite down and rejected at the moment … some haven’t been able to get JobKeeper,” she said.

“But we’re looking at people’s transferable skills and giving them contacts to find a saviour job that they can be involved with for three to 12 months to save money.”

Mr Kearsley said council hoped that the easing of lockdown restrictions would allow more business owners to return to normal trade.

“Council is working with them to support them through this transition,” he said.

Any employer with job opportunities for AMES clients can email [e-mail].