While there’s no doubt the pandemic has been tough on small businesses, recently released data shows that in many segments there has actually been an increase in spending.
If the people of Newtown have proven anything it’s that they are fiercely loyal to and supportive of their community and the local economy. During the last year, lockdowns and restrictions have put a damper on social activity but not on spirits and definitely not on initiative.
Though residents may not have been able to eat, drink, and shop as freely as they used to, somehow, they have still managed to spend money on the high street and keep many local businesses going.
The data platform, spendmapp.com.au was recently used to analyse information comparing average spend during April, May, June, July in 2019 and 2020. The resulting graphs from three different segments show relatively minor differences between the columns for Specialised Food Retailing and Specialised and Luxury Goods, and a more punctuated distinction for Dining and Entertainment.
In each case, there is a rising trend in spending, with June and July 2020 proving better than June and July 2019 in each of the three segments.
The figure for Dining and Entertainment is encouraging, given how badly those particular business areas were hit by the COVID restrictions.
The message here is to keep supporting local. Newtown has an extraordinarily rich and diverse range of offerings across food, fashion, artisan, homewares, entertainment, pets - pretty much anything you can hang a shingle for.
So keep those dollars circulating around the neighbourhood and get the lifeblood of the community pumping.
