CARS EATING CITY SHOPS; ISLAND VENTURES SQUASHED BY STEAMROLLER



TOP  GEAR  CHECKOUT  REPORT

Reflecting the tough trading conditions , every so often  a Townsville  shop   closes  and   it  stands  out  like a sore  thumb .   In  the case of  closures  in  major   shopping centres , it is a wonder  that  some of them  lasted  so long , the  stock  often   mass  produced  crud.

At  the CastleTown Shopping   Centre  it has been  noticed  that on three  occasions  an empty shop  has quickly  been   replaced  with   cars  as a stopgap  measure .  In the first instance,  a nondescript   clothing  outlet  disappeared  to  be replaced  by  a   few  poorly  lit  cars, a  man sitting in the  back  in  the  gloom wearing what could have  been  a camelhair coat  .  Some time later , the cars had  gone and there was  another new  vendor of  consumables .

 Then , sadly, the  large  Angus and Robertson bookshop  closed  and  in  came  another motorcade, once more  the  area open,  poorly lit.  Now  it seems to be occupied by  a  brightly  illuminated  Santaland. After Christmas , will it  be back to  a  temporary  car parking lot ?


Just  last  week , there  was  another  vacated  shop  sporting  cars , the  lights  in the garage once more  dim,shown below. Don't they want to pay for electricity?  An occupational health and  safety officer  would  hasten to point out it is  dangerous  for  shoppers  to  be  roamin  in  the  gloamin'. 

 

There could be an interesting story along the lines of the cars that ate Paris  for  an  investigative reporter.  What  is the arrangement with car companies?  Why are the lights  down low ?  Are  cars being taken off all  those  vehicle   carriers  that lob in port , without  media coverage ,  going straight  into  shopping centres  all  over the north ? Incidentally , the S(h)ipping Reporter  says there  was another large vehicle  transporter  in  port  about  a  week  ago called   Aegean  Highway .

ECONOMIC  WINDS   BUFFET   PICNIC  BASKET




No spring , no  rolls,  no menu , no  picnic.  

After many years of  trading , Alby's Chinese Restaurant ,  Picnic Bay, Magnetic Island , has  closed  without mention in the  mainland media , par  for  the  course . An island resident   said the  previous owner of the café  had been  "the biggest Chinaman in Australia " , served  scrumptious  tucker, and was called Donald , which does  not sound oriental .  It  is the latest venture  to  fold in  what some refer to as  the dead end of  the  island  . The   economic slide   started  when  the main  ferry entry  point  was  switched from  the Picnic Bay  jetty to  the new terminal at  Nelly  Bay  a  decade or  so ago.   

 

The  now  empty premises are  in  the  depressing  looking  arcade  where the only place trading  is  an Italian restaurant , Mona Lisa the dishwasher.  Nextdoor  is a  barricaded  area  with several empty shops  , one  still open for business,  a  hairdresser . Artscape, which sold a  variety of  island artwork and  then coffee, pulled out and moved to Nelly Bay .   Further  along  is   the   still  functioning  Picnic Bay Hotel , which once had a large live crocodile in a pool . Black  screens  block  from view  the  incomplete formwork  for  proposed   extensions. It was claimed years ago   that  a number of New Zealanders had  invested  in proposed townhouses  which  never  got  built . Picnic Bay clearly needs  a  quick , major  conference   to  work out   events  and  other  ways  to  help  boost  business, apart from a beercan regatta  that  frankly  was  small  beer  compared  with  Darwin's original.