THOSE behind a bakery in a prominent Howick Street spot have opted to close the doors only about halfway through the lease because they say the business simply wasn't viable in that location.
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Bakehouse on Howick opened back in August 2021 as a sister store to the successful existing Bakehouse on the Boulevard in the Kelso Centrepoint complex.
About two-and-a-half years down the track, owner Nathaniel Mason says the Howick Street outlet suffered due to factors including parking problems in the CBD and the trend of new businesses opening on the city outskirts, drawing customers away from the centre of town.
Bakehouse on Howick officially had its last day of trade on Thursday, March 14 and the focus for Mr Mason will now be the Kelso store.
It will mean another empty shopfront in the CBD, which has been a recent concern for the Bathurst Business Chamber.
"It's just easier not to open, and it's cheaper not to open and just use out the back at the moment," Mr Mason said.
Currently, the back of the Bakehouse is still operational, with staff utilising the baking facilities to supplement products sold from the Kelso store, but Mr Mason said this is only a temporary solution.
"We're looking to get rid of that [the back of the store] too," he said.
Mr Mason said Bakehouse on Howick has, since opening, been continually reliant on the profits from the Kelso store to remain functional.
"It has just been dead since we opened," he said.
"With wages and stuff, we're not making the money to pay the wages of the staff we've got in here. Now, just using out the back, and Kelso can cover paying the overheads and stuff."
No foot traffic, market saturation and big businesses
Mr Mason believes there were a number of reasons for the lack of customers entering the CBD store.
"There's just no foot traffic. The parking out the front is terrible, and the customers can't park. The older people prefer to just go out to Kelso where they can actually park and access it easily," he said.
"The parking here is ridiculous, it's horrendous ... when you're fighting in here for a park and you have to walk five kays down the road just for a sandwich, it's not worth it."
As well, he said market saturation had been a challenge.
With as many as five other bakeries within a 500-metre radius, an abundance of competitors meant the business struggled to remain viable.
Another contributing factor to the lack of trade in the centre of town, according to Mr Mason, is the number of large businesses opening on the outskirts of the city.
With businesses such as Anaconda and Harris Scarfe, as well as Bathurst's second KFC, opening in the Gateway development in Kelso and an abundance of outlets opening in West Bathurst recently, Mr Mason believes that this is resulting in customers opting to shop in newly developed areas.
"I think one of the biggest issues at the moment is that everything is going out of town. All of the big businesses are out of town, so people just shop out there, while they're there," he said.
Securing the future for Bakehouse on the Boulevard
And, though this was clearly an issue in the viability of the Howick Street store, it has ensured that the Kelso outlet has been continually popular.
"Kelso is worth opening, but town just isn't," Mr Mason said.
Now, Kelso will be the focus of the business, with profits from Bakehouse on the Boulevard being funnelled directly back into the Boyd Street location.
Though Mr Mason said the closing of Bakehouse on Howick was sad for him, and signified the end of an era in a way, he knew that it was a decision that had to be made.
"It was hard, but at the end of the day we had to do it, otherwise we would have no business," he said.
"Now we can hopefully just look to the future."
