The Northern Beaches should be a go-to for boutique beachside shopping, with a host of unique shops and buzzing malls, markets and town centres. So why are locals heading out of area to splash cash? Catherine Lewis reports on the impact for local business
Head-turning good looks, sun-kissed beachy waves, and a vibrant personality – the Northern Beaches region is a major catch. Many who live in the area – with its glorious coastline, national parks and rich shopping and dining scene – joke they have no reason to leave. Yet leave they do, new research shows, with locals spending more than $3.6 billion outside the area, jeopardising Beaches’ businesses and local economy.
More than $238 million was spent in Chatswood by Beaches’ residents last year. Money talked in gilt-edged Sydney, with $390 million spent in the heart of the city and $6 billion spent online, economic activity research from Spendmapp by Geografia shows. Eager to turn the tide, Northern Beaches Council has launched the ‘Go Local to Grow Local’ campaign to entice crucial dollars back into our communities. “We all have the power to bring this back to the Beaches, and supporting local businesses will strengthen our economy via job creation,” says council.
A tsunami of interest rate rises has flattened a bevvy of boutique shops and eateries, while many of those that remain flounder with a skeleton staff. While locals wax lyrical about eclectic options – from Warriewood Square to fine dining at Narrabeen, Mona Vale’s funky cafes and exclusive offerings at Terrey Hills, actions speak louder than words and many are voting with their feet. Throw in the pandemic years – drought- inducing for businesses of all shapes and sizes – and dreams have gone up in smoke, including those of Christine Zaranko, owner of vintage clothing shop Cherry Blossom, which lit up a corner of Pittwater Road, Narrabeen, from 2004 until its closure in June this year.
The former figure skater took over the colourful spot in 2020, with a dream to ‘preserve its iconic fashion’. “Living cost rises meant that many customers were unable to afford non-essential items,” Ms Zaranko tells Peninsula Living Pittwater (PL). “This led to a drastic drop in sales and the shift to online shopping, especially with multinational retailers, further eroded our customer base.
“Despite my efforts to keep the business afloat, I exhausted nearly all my personal savings and incurred significant debt. Often my son and I had to go without, and I feared we would end up living out of my car,” she adds.
Without unique small businesses such as Cherry Blossom to inject character into an area, suburbs are at risk of morphing into identikit strips, with no discernable personality. “Supporting local businesses helps keep the community vibrant and economically stable, supporting local families and allowing customers to enjoy the personal touch, something larger chains cannot offer,” reflects Ms Zaranko.
“Without community support, small businesses like mine become a memory” Christine Zaranko, owner of Cherry Blossom Narrabeen
Vintage clothing shop Cherry Blossom closed earlier this year due to financial struggles
So why are we taking our hard-earned dollars elsewhere? Some blame the ‘Northern Beaches tax:’ the suggestion that price tags – from furniture to fashion and food – are inflated in line with an area’s affluence. Then throw in the hefty cost burdens of owning a business in such an area, costs that must be passed on somehow. Add the mass buying power of large chains, breadth of choice on offer at hubs such as Chatswood, plus the instant ease – and immediate cost comparison – of online shopping, and a pattern emerges.
Despite efforts to boost the shop local movement during the pandemic, when desire for Australian-made items was strong and boosted thanks to campaigns such as Buy from the Bush, they were no match for catastrophic cost-of-living ripples that have seen almost 1,000 businesses close every day on average across the country. This is the highest annual rate in four years, says the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Chris Kavanagh, President of the Mona Vale Chamber of Commerce and owner of Minuteman Press in Darley Street, tells PL: “Few realise that local communities and businesses are highly co-dependent and your support of businesses ensures they can continue to support you. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Commercial rents have increased disproportionately to bank interest rates, while eateries are faced with enormous fluctuations in supply costs,” he adds. However, Mr Kavanagh says that council still opts to place ‘more than 70 per cent of council purchases outside the local area,’ adding that it would ‘suit the whole community to see this trend reversed’.
But council says it is doing everything it can to encourage residents to not only shop local, but to leave a review after doing so, to share and like businesses on social media and recommend via word of mouth, to drive much-needed traffic. “Let’s stick together and keep the Northern Beaches thriving – one local purchase at a time,” says council, which has produced promotional decals for shop windows. Mayor Sue Heins tells PL: “Each dollar spent locally sustains the dynamic culture and atmosphere that makes living on the Northern Beaches so incredible.
Astin Min Fine Foods in Long Reef featured in the council campaign
“The most encouraging news is the successful Go Local to Grow Local data comparison of 2024 resident escape spend between March (pre-launch) and May (post-launch), showing a decrease in external local government area spending from $309.3 million to $301.3 million. That’s an amazing additional $7.9 million spent in the community,” adds the mayor. As temperatures drop, so do tourist numbers and supporting businesses – especially hospitality operators – during the winter months, is crucial. “It would be wonderful if the community would support these amazing local businesses during May to September, so they are still here for us in the sunny months too,” says Mayor Heins.
Other efforts to keep dollars on the Beaches and create one-stop dining and entertainment districts include a night-time economy push. Council has applied to the Office of the NSW 24-Hour Economy Commissioner for ‘special entertainment precincts’ which could operate for extended hours, under ‘vibrancy reforms’ being pushed by the government. These hubs – which would host live music and performances – will be managed by ‘favourable noise controls via a council noise management plan,’ under which complaints will be restricted to protect all venues from ‘serial complainants,’ with priority given to whoever first occupied the premises. The number of complaints required for an investigation has been raised from three to five.
Mona Vale Chamber of Commerce President, Chris Kavanagh says the local community and businesses are ‘highly co-dependent
Early closing hours across Pittwater – which can slam business viability – could also be up for debate, following a recent clash over an application by The Joey at Palm Beach to extend its hours from 4pm to 11pm. Blocked by a handful of locals, the decision even had Premier Chris Minns weighing in to support the applicants, and is now under review.
Under the precinct proposal, to feed the crowds attending performances, businesses such as take-away cafés would also be able to extend their opening hours, including outdoor dining until 11pm – subject to approval.
Urging communities to ‘go local to grow local’ will tilt Beaches’ businesses in the right direction. But with the operating environment tougher than ever, a critical call of ‘shop local to save local’ is really what’s needed. Unless residents – proud of the uniqueness of their neighbourhoods – start spending close to home, character will give way to cookie cutter, as businesses fold in the face of global chains. As Cherry Blossom’s Christine Zaranko says: “Without community support, small businesses like mine become a memory.”
