ALARM has been raised as more Mandurah businesses reach breaking point.
The owner of Sports Power stores in Mandurah and Miami has announced they will close, blaming high rents. He is also the target of brazen thieves.
SEE: TWO SPORT POWER STORES TO CLOSE
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READ NOWSEE: ANOTHER BREAK-IN AT MANDURAH SPORTS POWER
And the owner of Hocus Pocus Costumes, Corsets, Characters, has publicly revealed her despondency at the number of people turning their backs on stores in favour of online shopping.
SEE: BUSINESS OWNER APPEALS FOR SHOPPERS TO SUPPORT LOCAL
Mayor Rhys Williams said there was no doubt parts of our the community were facing challenges.
“Unemployment and underemployment is an ongoing issue and people generally have less money to spend in our local business, putting pressure on our retail sector,” he said. “Sadly, Mandurah isn’t immune to the cyclical down-turn in our national economy.”
SEE: CITY OF MANDURAH SUPPORTS 2.5 PER CENT RATE RISE
A City of Mandurah report from chief executive Mark Newman said Mandurah was a “consumption economy” fragile to changing economic conditions.
“Consumption econo-mies, however important, are exposed to issues such as low economic growth, low inflation and unemployment,” the report said.
“The current anecdotal position of the retail sector in Mandurah, which was seeing lower turnover and business closures, points to a consumption economy under stress.”