The future of Dubbo stores in the stable of COVID-hit fashion retailer Mosaic Brands remains uncertain but any decision to shut them would be "foolish", mayor Ben Shields says.
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The owner of Millers, Rockmans and another five brands on Tuesday announced it anticipated closing up to 500 stores in the next one to two years, but said "exact locations and numbers" were to be determined.
Cr Shields said there were reasons for Mosaic Brands to remain in the city, as he renewed a call for people to shop locally.
When asked if a closure of any or all of the stores - Katies, Rockmans, Millers, Noni B, Rivers, Autograph, Crossroads, W.Lane and beme - would put Dubbo's position as a shopping destination at risk, Cr Shields said losing some stores "certainly would not be good" but that he'd be surprised if Dubbo would be "hit harder than other areas".
"The reason for that is, Dubbo isn't just a population of 45,000, Dubbo has a shopping population of 130,000 people," he said.
"My understanding is the Dubbo Mosaic stores are trading quite well, so that says to me those stores are more likely to remain open than not, because we are a shopping hub."
The mayor said in Sydney if a Mosaic store closed, there would be another one in a nearby suburb, but it was not the same at Dubbo, where it would be "an entire market they'll be exiting from, where those people will not have direct access to their brands".
Cr Shields said Dubbo had a strong economy, and the real estate industry continued to grow.
"So I think it would be very foolish for Mosaic to consider closing the Dubbo store, because we are in a unique situation, compared with the vast bulk of other areas in Australia," he said.
The mayor reported of Dubbo Regional Council's economic development team working not just with existing retailers but also with potential new retailers.
"There are new retailers on the horizon who are looking at Dubbo and who are starting that process of opening in Dubbo right now," he said.
"So we've got to focus on the positives happening, we've got to always be looking at new business opportunities for Dubbo.
"But this is an important lesson for Dubbo locals, and that is shop local... I'm asking local people in the Dubbo region to deliberately have a bias towards shopping with our local stores."
Cr Shields said from September the council's new local purchasing policy, "one of the most comprehensive and hard-hitting local purchasing policies for a council in NSW" would come into effect.
"My call now is to every other government department, every other business, and even just ordinary Dubbo residents, to get back and also do that, follow the lead of buying local," he said.
Faye Wheeler
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
