Owners of businesses in Laurieton are urging people to shop local to help keep their doors open.
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Laurieton Bakery owners Norm and Sara Crowe said they have made the decision to close on Tuesday, January 23 after 12 years of operation.
“Nobody is coming to the shops,” Norm said.
Sara said the mornings and the afternoons are very quiet.
“By about 2pm it’s just dead,” she said.
Norm said there is no point in shops opening outside of the hours of 10.30am and 2.30pm each day.
“That’s the only time you ever see anyone,” he said.
Norm said it’s too hard to pay the bills when there is nobody paying for it.
The business has been in steady decline Norm said for the last six years.
“In the last 12 months it’s got to the stage where we’re flat out paying the bills,” he said.
Norm is worried the Laurieton CBD could collapse if businesses aren’t supported.
“I can’t see anything on the horizon that is going to turn it around,” he said.
“There’s not a real lot anyone else can do really.
“We’ve tried Christmas in July, street parties and all kinds of things including our own renovations.”
Norm said people are choosing to travel to Port Macquarie to visit the bigger shopping stores.
“There’s not a real lot we can do to bring them back,” he said.
The couple don’t know what they are going to do next.
“It will just be another chapter,” Sara said.
Norm and Sara hope they don’t have to move from their home in Laurieton but it is a possibility.
“It comes down to getting a job now and go back out into the job force to try find work which isn’t going to be easy,” Norm said.
Pat Kerr from Peg’s Place & Laurieton Leisurecraft said the decline of people purchasing from local businesses is a worrying trend.
“I’ve worked at pretty much every retail business in Laurieton and I’ve seen the decline in passing traffic,” she said.
Pat said before people go online or drive to Port Macquarie to make a purchase they should think about whether they can perhaps get it locally.
“I don’t have a problem with people shopping elsewhere but at least give the local shop a go first,” she said.
Pat said the million dollar question is how to bring business back to Laurieton.
“If we knew the answer we’d be doing it,” she said.
Pat said there have already been businesses close their doors and a few more are thinking about it.
She said unfortunately all the businesses are feeling the pressure of reduced trade.