THE owner of a now-closed newsagency on Honeysuckle has spoken out about the storm of conditions that forced the-father-of-four’s hand to walk away from the business after suffering about a $500,000 loss.
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After 26-years in the newsagency business, Joel Gribble was optimistic when he opened the Honeysuckle business in March 2015.
Initially the business model worked well. However, over time as the construction boom got underway, and with construction of the light rail, the loss of parking spots increasingly became an issue.
Honeysuckle had relied on visitors for turnover, but with so few parking spots within close proximity the visitors stopped coming, Mr Gribble claimed.
“All the construction workers took up the car spaces,” Mr Gribble said. “The market we set the business up for was being wiped out.”
Despite, Throsby car park still being open on Honeysuckle Drive, many customers were simply unwilling to walk the distance, he said.
Mr Gribble also said he understood many of the apartment blocks in Honeysuckle were empty. He attributes some of this to Airbnb-style arrangements.
“Some of the occupants only live there six months of the year,” he said. “They tend to be people with a few dollars, they travel a lot.”
There was simply very little local trade, he said.
Additionally, Mr Gribble said opening up the city by removing the rail-line had the opposite effect to what he believed was intended. People working in Honeysuckle were walking to Marketown for their spend.
About 12 months ago, Mr Gribble approached his landlord and was able to negotiate a rent reduction. He unsuccessfully tried to find a tenant to take over the business’s lease.
By the time Doma’s Lume development got underway in April this year, accompanied by the loss of a further 250 car parks, the writing was on the wall.
Mr Gribble was forced to close the doors of his business.
“We have nothing left,” he said. “We have newborn twins.”
President of the Honeysuckle Community Group Tim Lees said he expected to see further competition between the city’s precincts when works were complete.
Mr Lees described the challenges businesses at Honeysuckle face as a “fact of life” that would not be changing.
He would like to see the Hunter Development Corporation (HDC) and Newcastle City Council turn its attention to how it can “welcome back” people into the city.
“I would encourage that consideration be given now as to what they can do to bring people back into the city,” Mr Lees said.
HDC has previously pointed out that the Throsby Car Park, on Honeysuckle Drive, is still operating.
It acknowledged the current situation was “challenging” but provided an “opportunity to examine how customer tastes change and what they value”.
HDC also said “there are several forms of parking: residential, commercial, retail and visitor located in Honeysuckle that will also be available following construction”.
Correction: It was previously reported that the newsagency belonged to the nextra Group Franchise, this was not entirely correct. The business’ membership was terminated July 2017.
