Covid-19: ‘Last hurrah’ for Melbourne CBD businesses

Melbourne’s battered economy is losing hospitality gems, as the flow-on effects of lockdowns shut down longstanding businesses.

Jess Wickham, Chloe Spencer, Patrick Alewood and Laura Barbante enjoy one of the final Friday afternoon drinks at Madame Brussels in Melbourne. Picture: Aaron Francis

Melbourne CBD’s first rooftop bar is closing after 15 years, in a sign long Covid for business is setting in.

Madame Brussels co-owner Paula Scholes said she and business partner Michael Anderson would shut up shop later this month – a far cry from the days of “aphrodisiac orgy” parties and swanky anniversary celebrations.

“Before Covid we went through that terrible time of bushfires … and then Covid hit. We worked through it. We could probably make it through winter – maybe. But it’s too stressful,” she said. As nightclubs and dance floors reopened in Victoria from midnight on Thursday and more patrons were allowed into venues, Ms Scholes declared it was time for the Bourke St bar’s last hurrah.

“I’ve had a lot of emails, phone calls and text messages from (former) staff to say Madame Brussels wasn’t just a job, it’s where (they) grew up,” she said.

“It was a place … to mature and learn the ropes. To learn rules, learn (work) ethic, learn manners, learn about entertainment and about service.”

Malvern East high tea and wedding venue The Gables is ­another business that closed last Friday due to Covid-19 lockdowns after it operated under the ownership of Jessica Souter for 26 years.

“Trying to manage a wedding and event venue through Covid has just been hell. But these recent (lockdowns) have just been the nail in the coffin,” Ms Souter said. “Small business has been absolutely decimated. And they don’t talk about it, but drive down the main streets and just look at the shop fronts. They are just mum-and-dad businesses like me who quietly close because we can’t keep going.”

Ms Souter estimated her business – about a 25-minute drive southeast of the city — lost about $80,000 over the February weekend after the state was locked down for a third time, and about another $160,000 in June.

Australian Retail Association chief Paul Zahra said the number of businesses that shutdown was expected to rise with the country’s vaccine rollout well behind schedule and no national approach to lockdowns or hotspot definitions.

“Lockdown in Sydney means something very different (compared with) Victoria. The definition of a hotspot means different things. So there is confusion,” Mr Zahra said. “As a retail industry we don’t remain comfortable or confident because we don’t know what the future holds.”

He said uncertainty after Victoria’s fourth lockdown on May 27 drove the industry to reduce its physical footprint and expand its digital presence in a bid to future-proof businesses.

Forty-one Victorian food and accommodation businesses could not pay their debts in the March quarter, with monthly insolvencies rising from January to April, according to data from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission.

Business Victoria statistics in turn show that without international tourists the number of domestic visitors also plummeted along with spending.

There were 28.3 million domestic visitors in Melbourne in the year to March last year. That dropped to 13.4 million in the following year.

“(Ms Scholes) is amazing. It’s sad because I wasn’t ready to stop working here,” she said.