Except for a brief two week stint in July Melbourne’s bars have been closed for seven months and on Sunday received the disappointing news that the wait to reopen would be longer.
For Huw Griffiths, Owner of Union Electric bar in Melbourne, the wait is now beyond frustrating, as he told Bars and Clubs.
“Frustrating doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel and how I expect most people feel,” he said.
“Imagine having a product that people want, that they tell you they want, but you’re told you’re not allowed to provide said product but, hey, here you go, have a couple of grants that total less than 10 per cent of the revenue you would have earned if you could stay open. You’re welcome.”
Asked if he had a message for Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrew, Griffiths said: “Mate, I was on your side until about a month ago but it’s gone on a bit longer than it needs to.
“Also, who have you been speaking to in the hospo industry? I’d like to see more engagement with a very important part of Victoria’s economy. Call me.
He added: “Also, let’s get everyone open, sort out your contact tracing and open the borders.”
The good news for Griffiths is that he is ready to open, and the Premier did say on Sunday that based on the current advice from Victoria’s public health team hospitality venues would open again, with density restrictions, on 1 November.
He told Bars and Clubs: “We’re ready. We were lucky because we went through a period of eliminating debt so we could work on other projects, safely.
“When I say we will be able to open, it doesn’t necessarily mean we will be financially viable until density quotients are relaxed. We are fortunate compared to a lot of venues because we have so much ‘outdoor’ space, but even then our capacity is less than half of what we were originally licenced for.
“The last reopen took my core team and myself more than two weeks to get back on track. This time will take longer because we are remaining cautious and we learned from last time’s false start. Even then we will operate on a limited menu because we depleted a lot of stock in the early days of the lockdown.”
Griffiths also said it has been good to see what some suppliers have been doing to help make sure venues do reopen when they are allowed to.
“Some suppliers have been great, especially the likes of Proof & Co, ALM, Bacardi & Pernod.
“Proof especially, offering really favourable terms, buying stock back and offering a lot free stock, support and assistance from the get go. ALM was very quick to arrange a buy back and have been very considerate as well.
“A couple of companies kept trying to sell and spin deals in the early days which was a bit poor, I think.”
Looking forward Griffiths said that he was excited to see some of the ideas being suggested by Melbourne City Council.
“We hope that we’ll have a much closer to normal Christmas Period, travel restrictions eased and have a solid season so we can start paying some bills and looking to grow again,” he said.
“I’m excited about the prospect of trading on the street under Melbourne City Council’s Expanded Outdoor Dining Scheme, that’s a great initiative.”
And he shared these messages with the people of Melbourne: “You’ve been really great, thank you. Can’t wait to have a few with you soon.”
