Rising costs hurt South Australia's regional high streets
Empty shops and "for lease" signs line Mount Gambier's main retail strip as high costs and online shopping drive customers away.
The city, in South Australia's South East, is home to about 30,000 people. It also serves as the commercial hub for the wider Limestone Coast region.
Mount Gambier's economic heart has always been based around Commercial Street, but that is rapidly changing.
A historic photo of Commercial Street shows the heritage-listed town hall. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)
A walk down the 1.2-kilometre retail strip between Wehl and Crouch streets reveals retailers are few and far between.
Country Attitude co-director Kathy Gandolfi, who has been in business on the main street for 22 years, said having fewer shops hurt everyone.
Kathy Gandolfi has been in business on Mount Gambier's main street for 22 years. (ABC South East SA: Sam Bradbrook)
"It's good to have a vibrant main street," she said.
"Less shops in the main street means more people are likely to go outside of the town looking for things."
Changes on Commercial St
As high interest rates and inflation hurt consumers' pockets, increased overheads are putting added pressure on businesses.
Businesses are finding it hard to maintain large shop fronts. (ABC South East SA: Sam Bradbrook)
Mount Gambier Chamber of Commerce chair Samuel Taylor said having a large shopfront on the main street was increasingly unviable.
He said bigger shops required more stock to display, but those items just racked up costs for the business every day they were not sold.
Mount Gambier's Commercial Street in 1964, from the Life in Australia film series. (Supplied: National Film and Sound Archive)
"We're seeing a big shift away from large-scale businesses and you're moving into a more cost-effective model which is a smaller shopfront," he said.
For larger retailers, a move away from the main street made more sense in terms of rental and operating costs, he said.
"We're seeing a lot of people move away from the traditional main street."
Like bricks-and-mortar shops everywhere, Mount Gambier's retail sector has also been hit by the online shopping boom.
Commercial Street during SA's COVID-19 lockdowns. (ABC South East SA: Bec Whetham)
Ms Gandolfi said more food and service businesses, like health clinics and hairdressers, were now opening on the main street "because you can't buy a job by a physio or something online".
"You have to actually walk in and get those services, so they're not as affected by online."
Future hope
Retailers like Keiran Hein, however, are hopeful for the future of Commercial Street.
Ms Hein opened her ice cream and confectionary shop, Lollies & Scoops, just two weeks ago.
She believed her business would succeed.
Two previously empty buildings have also now been leased.
Keiran Hein hopes her new shop can fill a gap in the market. (ABC South East SA: Sam Bradbrook)
"I would have loved to have spent so much money in decorating this place and doing it up into a wonderland, but the reality is that I can't," she said.
"So it's basic, it's bright, it's clean. We've got good food and produce and that's all that matters at the moment."
As some businesses move out, others are taking a chance on Commercial Street. (ABC South East SA: Sam Bradbrook)
Mount Gambier Mayor Lynette Martin described the movement of businesses along the street as "cyclical", and said the council was working on a master plan for the CBD which was set to include updates to the main street.
Lynette Martin says Commercial Street is a "survivor". (ABC News: Isadora Bogle)
"It's been there for over 100 years, shops have come and gone, businesses have come and gone, but it always seems to come back to be fully or almost fully occupied," she said.
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