According to owner of The Collab Store, Sheila Black, it's been hard to find a car park in East Maitland some mornings, which is fantastic to see.

"It's been good, people are definitely out and about," she said.

Ms Black's retail store on Lawes Street not only supports her and her family, but her suppliers too who are all small businesses that have been doing it tough the last few months.

In other news:

"I support about 60 home based and small businesses so if I'm open then that definitely helps assist those families," she said.

"Some of them have reduced their production and some of them sought full time employment because there's no other way they can survive, with businesses being crippled by lockdown."

Ms Black said reopening has been a positive experience for both her and her customers, with people volunteering to show their proof of vaccination and COVID-Safe green ticks.

"It's been very good, my customers are excited that we're open again, and they're also excited to go out and shop again.

"Things are picking up since we opened last Monday, I can see lots of foot traffic, and we are seeing lots of people who have not known about the shop in here.

"It's good that people are out and about exploring their surrounds."

Ms Black said being reopened gets The Collab Store back into business and towards a (hopefully quick) recovery.

"For me personally, being able to interact with people and especially to socialise with people again is really good," she said.

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