PRESS RELEASE regarding the closure of Hardwick Street and the impact it had on business
The Newcastle Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently met with its members and spoke to some businesses regarding the closure of Hardwick street for the past two months, and how this has impacted businesses.
Trevor Smith Sports said that in their type of business, it has definitely had a negative impact. Walk-in business has been significantly slower as people are not prepared to drive all the way across town and spend so much extra time in traffic.
Dedekind Meats owner Arthur said that the closing of the road has had a very devastating effect on their business. “Turnover dropped by approximately 20% over the past two months, as customers find it too much of a hassle to battle through traffic to get to us, and therefore do their meat shopping elsewhere, due to the fact that it is not easy to get in and out of town.”
Waltons explained that their walk-in business has also dropped significantly. Although a lot of their business takes place through telecommunication and delivery, it is very time consuming as deliveries take longer because of traffic, and delays result in having to pay drivers overtime.
Greta from Computer Skills 4 Africa says that although they have their regular clients, there has definitely been a dwindle in the number of walk-in trade.
Some businesses that preferred not to be named explain that it is quite a mission to get in and out of town; people are having to leave home earlier to get to work on time, and arrive home much later. Deliveries are also delayed as the drivers take much longer to get to and back from deliveries.
“It has had a negative effect on our businesses with regard to customer complaints, and drivers needing to go out more often. Time factor: A lot of frustration to deal with from customers as a quick drive into town takes much longer.”
Some businesses could barely keep running; sales dropped by more than half. Along with that, electricity bills have more than doubled to over R5000. Due to the drastic decline in sales, one of the businesses had to relocate, and have since been forced to make the decision to close the business down, as the backlog is simply too big, and it would take too long to recover.
