Having thrown out around $5,000 worth of perishable stock in their café, under lockdown restrictions Fyshwick bike store Pushys is only allowed to be open for mechanical bike repairs.
With the public not allowed to enter the shop and delivery of local orders not permitted, Pushys have had to stop general servicing and bike sales, resulting in a “70-80 per cent” drop in trade, according to owner Shane Wolki.
Doing online trade through their website, a separate business run out of Brisbane, Pushys sell bikes across the country via couriers – however, the Canberra shop is not permitted to deliver locally under ACT lockdown rules.
Theoretically, under current restrictions it’s possible to order a bike via Pushys’ website and have it sent via courier from Brisbane, but delivery cannot be organised out of their Fyshwick shop.
Mr Wolki told Canberra Daily it’s been a complicated process to figure out what is and isn’t allowed under the current lockdown restrictions.
“The way we read it this year, this lockdown, we aren’t able to sell any bikes,” he said. “We’re just playing it safe; we won’t let any customers come in the store and browse.”
During the 2020 lockdown, business thrived for Mr Wolki as demand for bicycles surged.
At the peak of Canberra’s COVID restrictions last year, they were able to operate their showroom while adhering to the one-person-per-four-square-metre and social distancing rules.
“Our turnover has dropped this time; last time it didn’t drop so we didn’t need any government support,” he said.
“We’re not making enough to pay the rent.”
Employing six fulltime staff, Mr Wolki has been able to keep “a couple of them” on at 75 per cent, thanks in part to the available government supports.
Mr Wolki said he would regrettably contemplate temporarily shutting up shop entirely if the lockdown is prolonged without an adjustment to trading conditions for non-essential businesses.
“At the moment we want to stay open to keep people on their bikes,” he said. “It’s nice to know you’re doing something to keep people sane to a certain degree.
“I think they’ve done a good job and just hope they react as quick to reopen as they did to shut … only when it’s right, not prematurely – and who knows when that is.”
Having received numerous requests from the local business community, Chief Minister Andrew Barr yesterday said the ACT Government is investigating a “way forward” to allow non-essential retailers to safely trade online.
“We are actively looking at that,” Mr Barr said.
“We’ve been working with a range of industry associations, and we’ve got a number of individual case studies, but we need a little bit of time just to work through that.
“Right now, though … we’re not in a mood to make too many risky calls at the moment.”
Mr Barr said an announcement on an adjustment to the restrictions for the affected traders will take place “in the coming days”.
“I appreciate the frustration; we are looking,” he said. “We need to let the lockdown work.
“There’s a range of very significant local and national policy issues, this is amongst them, we’re working on it, I’ll make an announcement as soon as I can.”
Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
For more local news:
