Sales up despite forecast | Northern Rivers Money, Business and Property | Business News for Northern Rivers, Australia

Graham Orams | 1st July 2009

NOT every business in the Valley is having a good time of the global economic slow-down but it seems most are doing well.

In recent weeks, The Daily Examiner has spoken to businesses all over the Clarence Valley and produced business stories on Yamba and Grafton.

Today, The Examiner talks to businesses in Maclean about how they're coping in the current economic environment.

John Allen owns Maclean Variety Meats. He bought the business two years ago.

“Business is going brilliant. It's been going up in a spiral since we bought the business,” he said.

“I put that down to good staff with good backgrounds who are prepared to give quality service.”

Mr Allen said he believed the community supported him because he supported the community.

“We heavily support rugby league, we've supported Brushgrove cricket and we've supported every school in this town,” he said.

“I believe if you're going to go into business you've got to put something back.”

Terry Spencer from Ace Variety Discounts said the economic slowdown hadn't affected his business.

“I don't know if it's the Government's stimulus package or if people are moving away from the more expensive items and buying cheaper products,” he said.

“I've got another store in Alstonville and it's not really feeling it either.”

Bev Anderson has owned Clovelly Ladies Fashion for 34 years. She said business had been good.

“I'm fairly lucky. I've got regular clientele and we're pretty steady,” she said.

“I also own Clovelly's in Yamba and that's getting busier every month.

“Maclean's got so much potential. We've got regular tourists who come back here because they like what we've got.”

Nick Clark from Home Hardware said the only thing that affected his business this year was the floods.

“We were trading really strongly until the floods hit,” he said.

“That can really hurt when you've got a business employing 34 people and they can't get to work.

“Overall, the building industry is showing growth. That flows through to us and allows us to employ more people.

“We've had good growth for the past five years, and this year we're pulling the same figures as last even though the economy has slowed.”

Chris Hadaway started Resolution Personal Training and Massage in Maclean just over two years ago.

He said he had been pleasantly surprised to find business had stayed strong this year.

“We were expecting the economic downturn to affect us because we're classed as a luxury item,” he said.

“But there has been no downturn in growth for us at all.”

But Gary Quee from Maclean Fruit and Vegie Mart said the slowing economy was taking its toll.

He said the cooler months were a traditionally slower time but business this year was noticeably slower.

Mr Quee said the fruit and vegie industry in general was slow and blamed it on the slower global economy.

Heather Horton has owned and run The Chocolate Box in Maclean for the past seven-and-a-half-years.

She said business had slowed a little but not as much as she had expected.

Sharon and Boyd Moore took over the reigns of Toy Kingdom Maclean about 18 months ago.

Sharon Moore said business was down a little on last year's figures but not a lot.

“This is typically a quiet time of year anyway. But I thought it would be a lot worse,” she said.

“We've been cautious not to put in any risky new lines. Instead, we're sticking to what we know people want.

“But overall, things are actually much more positive than we're being led to believe.”

Syd Jones has been a part of Walters Butchers for 60 years. He said his business had never been busier.

“It (the economic slowdown) hasn't affected us at all. Maclean has always been able to handle these things pretty well,” he said.

Bill Day manages car sales at O'Halloran Motors.

He said sales had slowly improved to the point where he could only describe business as 'booming'.

“The orders and sales over the past four weeks have been the best I've seen in the three years I've been here,” he said.

“I think the (Federal Government's) 50 per cent investment allowance for businesses announced as part of the stimulus package has been remarkably successful.

“It applies to vehicles ordered up to the end of the year so it's going to continue to work for another six months.”

Mr Day said he believed the mentality of local people was a positive thing for the town.

“I think the other thing is that local people have decided the recession hasn't destroyed the local economy and there's a high degree of optimism.”

Bob Little is president of Maclean Chamber of Commerce and owns SPAR Supermarket.

Mr Little said he had noticed with his own business that the number of customers was up but the value of each transaction was down slightly.

In his role as chamber president, he said most businesses in Maclean were 'not breaking records' but were 'happy' with how things were going.

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