THE doors of Merbein’s pub are shut after Merbein Hotel and G&T Schnitzel Bar ceased trading amid a dispute over repairs and maintenance.
Following close to a year of unresolved discussions, the business operators last week received an eviction notice from the landlord.
Owner and general manager of the businesses Travis Lindsay said Friday’s closure brought an end to six years in the bistro and a year at the main bar.
“It was quite sad actually … it’s a bit of emotion, a few tears,” Mr Lindsay said.
“We put a lot into the beer garden here and we opened it right up, it used to be like that back in the ’90s on my understanding.
“We brought all that back and a lot of people were really loving it, so it’s a bit of a shame that 12 months in we have to go.”
Parties involved had debated responsibility over repairs undertaken on the premises, and who was responsible for certain areas of maintenance.
Graham Lang, a family member to the landlord, said unpaid rent had become a factor in the matter.
“It just got to a figure that is no longer viable for us to keep leasing the property,” Mr Lang said.
Mr Lindsay said he would this week start exploring potential new locations for G&T in the Mildura central business district.
“We have three full-time staff, they’ll have some holidays built up they’ll be able to use,” he said.
“But we’ve got five casuals that are now out of employment.”
He said he planned for the business to continue having a connection to Merbein.
“We’ve had some options in the past to go into town and we’ve sort of wanted to stay and connect with Merbein,” Mr Lindsay said.
“Maybe we might have outgrown a little bit, maybe we need to go into town and into Mildura and have a go in there.”
He said he planned on continuing to source chicken breast for the schnitzel business from the Merbein Butchery, and all vouchers would be honoured at the new location.
