Glebe back to business as usual

Now that Glebe Point Road is on the mend, so are its financial woes, says the President of the Glebe Chamber of Commerce, Paul Angell.

The extensive upgrade of Glebe’s major shopping strip, which began in late 2007 and cost $15 million, is almost complete, and the traders are now preparing to draw an influx of shoppers back to the area.

Balmain resident Mark Sherwin snatched up the prized Vesper scooter at Saturday’s Glebe Markets – part of the promotional giveaway designed to highlight the area’s new quaint and quirky shopping identity.

“In spite of having these worldwide economic woes, our revenue is really quite good. We go from strength to strength,” said Paul Angell.

“The news on the street in Glebe is really positive. It’s a big relief just to havethe moral quite good now. It’s not just pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking. The economy is actually improving.”

Postcards, shopping bags and badges are some other merchandise that will carry the new Glebe branding, complete with lace doyley and characters such as Granny Glebe to reflect the suburb’s Victorian heritage.

With a City of Sydney Precinct Manager recently assigned to the area to help coordinate marketing, promotional campaigns will continue well into the year.

As well as a new tourist brochure intended to attract interest from outside Sydney, a major art project will be launched, which will feature 150 portraits of local identities, including famed Mambo illustrator Reg Mombassa.

The portraits will be dispersed throughout the entire suburb. “It’s like turning Glebe into an art gallery,” said Mr Angell.