Upgrade takes its toll on Glebe businesses

BY DHEEPTHI NAMASIVAYAM

Whether it be from excessive noise, difficult access or parking problems, some local businesses along Glebe Point Road have found themselves struggling since the upgrade commenced last August.
Paul Feain, antiquarian proprietor of The Cornstalk Bookshop said his business has lost around $50,000 since the upgrade began, with clients reluctant to traverse the hefty metal fences to enter the shop.
‘The only reason I didn’t go out of business is because I’m well-established and have a good clientele,’ Mr Feain told The City News.
Other local traders in Glebe are not so lucky. The Indian boutique Rap India, which opened six months ago is closing down and the upgrade is partly to blame. On any given Saturday, the store is brimming with clients, but since the upgrade work begun, co-owner Asha said business is sparse.
‘They’ve blocked the area [in front of the shop] so people can’t even see the window-front,’ she said, adding that the window-front constitutes much of the walk-in sales for the business.
But within the next fortnight, Glebe’s Chamber of Commerce and the City of Sydney Council will finalise a marketing and advertising campaign, designed to assist local businesses during the upgrade. This includes Council-provided ‘Open for Business’ signage for local businesses where construction has obscured their front window.
The Chamber has also proposed an Upgrade Specials initiative, where an artist will be hired to write a specials menu for local businesses. ‘The idea is to run a nice ad and [encourage people] to look out for Glebe upgrade specials,’ president of the Glebe Chamber of Commerce, Paul Angell said.
Mr Angell said the Council has learnt from the Kings Cross and Oxford Street upgrades which forced many local traders out of business, by adopting a block-by-block strategy to minimise disruptions to local businesses.
But once the footpaths and gutters are completed, local traders face another battle with heavy road-works to take place between Parramatta Road and Norton Street to remove century-old power lines, resurface and regrade the roads.
‘It will be pervasive and [the respective block of Glebe Point Road] that is affected will be reduced to one lane,’ said Mr Angell. ‘But if everybody works together, we’ll wind up with an amazing upgrade.’