Headlines
More empty shops
As we write this, another central Wynnum retailer has closed their doors – the fruit and veg shop in Edith Street. It joins the other recent closure, the pet shop in Florence Street we featured recently.
Some shops in Wynnum have been empty a lot longer. We have it on good authority that this shop in Edith Street has been empty for eight years! This is why we need to focus on recreating Wynnum Central as somewhere people want to come to shop, to be entertained and to have fun. Answers on a postcard please.
The fruit shop has changed hands many times over the past 10-15 years- sadly it’s an effect of the duopoly that Coles and Woolies hold in the groceries market.
And scuttlebutt is Old Mate who owns that long-empty shop is notoriously difficult to contact and has missed out on at least one trader desperate to sign a lease because of this; it’s a prime example of the apathy displayed by some of the older property owners who seem to have no vested interest in seeing the CBD go ahead.
I agree with Michelle…Ive been in the area for since 1978 & the shops havent changed at all. The owners arent interested & the pensioners of Wynnum dont like to see a change.
Having a market day once a month will only bring people back for the day what happens to the other weeks…the shops need to be filled or it will be a ghost town….”What a Shame”
what ever happened to the station/bus-ride upgrade in Tingal Rd. This looked to have been great if the sketch in the Herald had gone come to pass. Also the long awaited Movie Theatre which was on top of the list some years when a survey was taken. These are what is going to draw more people into Wynnum CBD, this is what shop owners need to en aid them to keep their shops open. Perhaps it would be a good idea to use the Wynnum Central School as a Library and Community building and utilize the huge grounds for parking, another thing needed to accommodate customers. Edith Street should have been turned into a Mall when it was on the agenda many years ago, let’s not see it die right off by just filling empty shops before something is done to draw more people here. Joan
If you have the right mix of good produce good service and good price AND open for reasonable hours (2013 hours not 1973 hours) people will shop despite Coles: see Perry’s.
Speaking about answers on a postcard, I saw an idea I loved in a Ted talk where the community in New Orleans put stickers on the windows of empty shops to ask the community what they wished this shop would be. Involvement 🙂
Found it. Great idea. Here’s the TED talk… http://www.ted.com/talks/candy_chang_before_i_die_i_want_to.html
Isn’t she inspiring!