Mildura businesses starting to see customer decline

WHILE the threat of COVID-19 is yet to take hold in Sunraysia, Mildura businesses are starting to see a shift in local spending.

This is why blk.mlk specialty coffee part-owner Emma Slorach is urging people to spend local and is looking at different revenue streams for the cafe.

The cafe which employs about 11 casual staff, usually has five of those rostered on a Tuesday morning – this week there were just two.

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“On a Tuesday morning, we usually get a lot of people in with luggage who are in Mildura for business but we’re not seeing that today,” Ms Slorach said.

“I just don’t think people are travelling at the moment.

“We would normally have between five or six staff on for it but I have sent some people early today because it has been so quiet.”

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Ms Slorach and her partner also own Witch Doctor Cafe at Mildura Waves and said they had been looking at different possible business models in case they needed to close.

“We are looking into things like delivery,” she said.

“We were thinking we could do coffee delivery for local businesses who don’t want to come into the cafe, or deliver food as well.

“That way we could keep some casuals rostered on to deliver, keep our chefs in the kitchen, that is our back-up plan if we had to shut.”

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Sandbar owner Malcolm Kalms said while the coronavirus pandemic was yet to affect the bar, he reinforced how important it was for people to spend local during this time.

“It hasn’t effected us just yet, the last two weekends have been really good for us, especially the long weekend – it was one of our biggest,” he said.

“But we can’t afford to have people stop spending money through local business, at the end of the day we still need the tills ticking over.

“If small businesses die in Mildura they don’t come back.”

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Ms Slorach said the cafe was in a pretty good position compared to other local business, but would encourage people to keep coming in.

“We are here and we are open,” she said.

“We just need people to come in, we need customers to come in.”

Concern for casuals

WITH details of a second Federal Government stimulus package yet to be released, casual workers are concerned for the looming possibility of a lapse in income.

While larger companies such as Woolworths and Wesfarmers – which oversees Kmart, Target and Officeworks – have confirmed they will pay casuals who are required to self-quarantine, there has been a push for the government to support casual workers in small business that may be forced to close.

Blk.mlk specialty coffee barista Nick Van Niekerk is a casual worker and had not previously considered there might be an effect on his income.

“If we had to close I know they are fasttracking people who are recently unemployed because of the virus on to Newstart but it’s not a long-term solution,” he said.

“I have had a job since I was 15 and I have never considered being on Centrelink.

“I know blk.mlk will look after me as much as they can but they can only do what they have the ability to do.”

Details of the first stimulus package were released by the Federal Government on Thursday last week, but have been largely criticised for failing to address casual workers’ lack of paid leave.

A second stimulus package was hinted by the government on Monday.