Mall upgrade decimated business, cafe owners say

L&M's Koffee Pot owners Morris and Lorraine Williamson say the Golden Centre mall's redevelopment...
L&M's Koffee Pot owners Morris and Lorraine Williamson say the Golden Centre mall's redevelopment has decimated their business. Photo by Craig Baxter.
Noise, dust and restricted access combined with a lack of communication have "starved" struggling businesses in the Golden Centre Mall's food court, owners say.

A $5 million upgrade of the George St, Dunedin mall, began in May and was expected to be completed next month.

L&M's Koffee Pot owners Morris and Lorraine Williamson were angry about reports of the redevelopment.

A recent Otago Daily Times article quoted mall manager Simon Eddy saying it had been a "very painless process".

They have called this "inaccurate".

Having lost about $80,000 in profits since March, Mr Williamson blamed the process for "absolutely decimating" his business.

The couple have owned the business for five years and said it had been "brilliant" until noise and dust impacted their customers and isolation of the food court from the rest of the mall halted foot traffic.

An 800mm-wide gap was all that connected the mall to the food court until yesterday, he said.

"You couldn't actually see the food court for months and months."

While other businesses may not have been significantly affected, he believed those in the food court were in "dire straits" financially.

Mr and Mrs Williamson would have appreciated better communication from mall management about the future of their business and said financial effects should have been alleviated.

They had received two weeks rent free.

The cafe's lease expired in January and they said it would be "the end of it".

Three new shops were expected to go into their space and they would have to buy back a much smaller, refurbished space, he said.

Another business owner in the food court, who wished to remain anonymous, had experienced the same issues.

She said businesses were not informed of what was happening in regard to the redevelopment, with different things happening every day.

Sales had been affected because of the drop in foot traffic and increase in noise.

"It's not good enough. It's not painless," she said.

Mr Eddy said he "had a lot of sympathy and a lot of empathy for the food court tenants".

However, he said the "overwhelming majority" of feedback had been positive.

A "certain level of disruption" was expected with such a significant remodelling and it was "regrettable" some tenants felt affected by it, he said.

Mr Eddy believed communication with tenants had been open with monthly meetings and regular letters.

"They have certainly had the ability to bring concerns to my attention."

The redevelopment was moving so quickly, it was not always possible to inform tenants of what would be done on a daily basis, he said.

"We are looking towards the big picture."

ellie.constantine@odt.co.nz

 

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