Fears Maitland’s retail hub would crumble after the final stage of Stockland Green Hills opened have been alleviated with traders on The Levee reporting strong sales.
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It has been almost two months since the unveiling of the $412 million shopping centre, a development many said would cripple the city’s central business district.
But nothing could be further from the truth according to some traders who said The Levee development and the CBD’s eclectic mix of cafes and boutiques, has held the historic shopping strip in good stead.
Some retailers said the region’s long summer stifled pre-winter trade, however business has now bounced back.
Marilyn Beer of Efagi Boutique said her figures have gone up.
“Obviously during the first week of the opening there was a lot of curiosity and figures were down, but the last 10 days trade show figures have gone up. We have done more than expected compared to this time last year,” she said.
“It needs to be pointed out that you can’t compare Maitland to Green Hills,” Mrs Beer said.
“They are two completely different entities. We have specialty shops that are privately or family owned and operated and Green Hills has chain stores.
“We have a point of difference and our motto in Maitland is Keep it Local. Everyone loves a new shopping centre but the feedback I’ve received is that Green Hills is no different to any other centre.
“People come back to Maitland for the personal service, the long time businesses like Johnston’s Shoes and Ken Lane Menswear,” Mrs Beer said.
Some traders were critical of Maitland City Council’s decision to spend millions upgrading what was known as The Heritage Mall but Mrs Beer said The Levee project has been great for the city.
“We always lobbied for through traffic. My only concern is the lack of parking,” she said.
“The view from customers is that they like The Levee. I only hope we have a tenant in The Riverlink Building’s restaurant before too long.”
Patrick Lane of Ken Lane Menswear said his business has not been affected by the Green Hills opening.
“Our business has not been affected at all thus far and our busiest days of trade have been in the last couple of weeks which ironically has been since David Jones and all the new shops opened.
“The main factor that has affected trade for us was the long Summer.
“It's been so warm for so long that our winter clothing sales have been slow until this last week.”
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