Cyclone Alfred Set To Impact Retail Revenues As Stores Shut Down In Queensland & Northern NSW
Retailers in the CE And appliance markets are anticipating a hit on revenues due to Cyclone Alfred following the closure of retail outlets in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Northern NSW.
Because of the prolonged three to four day impact of the cyclone, retailers who had a poor January are now facing a quarter when up to 30% of their Queensland and Northern NSW revenues could be impacted due to closure and staff not turning up for work.
With the exception of Bunning whose hardware products are in demand retailers such as Harvey Norman, Super Cheap Auto, JB Hi Fi, The Good Guys, Narta members, including Brisbane based Betta Electrical who have closed stores in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Lismore, Casino and other Queensland areas impacted by the cyclone.
According to BSR Chairman Graeme Cunningham the biggest issue is not having staff to operate the stores.
“At this stage we have 8-9 stores closed and we will have to wait to see what happens with the storm”.
The Australian Retail Association claimed that The intensity of the weather event has meant that many stores in affected areas are now closed until conditions change and it is safe to reopen.
Where it is safe to do so, some essential retail stores remain open though many retailers are reporting lower staff numbers given the warnings currently in place.
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and National Retail Association (NRA) are calling on continued community patience and understanding towards retail workers who are operating in an extremely high-pressure situation.
ARA Chief Industry Affairs Officer Fleur Brown said “We are grateful for the enormous effort from essential retailers in particular. This includes the delivery of extra supplies across the past week, as well as efforts to maintain the operations of as many stores as possible and support SES activities and evacuation centres.”
NRA Interim CEO Lindsay Carroll said: “It’s worth remembering that retail teams also live in these affected communities and the person serving you in a store is likely to be personally impacted by the Cyclone and flooding.
“We are calling for patience and understanding at this time and respect towards retail teams as they do their best to offer essential services.”
Carrier Impact and Connectivity Challenges
The extreme weather conditions caused by Cyclone Alfred are also impacting mobile services in south-east Queensland and northern NSW.
Optus has lost access to 45 of its mobile towers in Queensland and northern NSW due to power outages. The company said it is working with field operations teams to restore services as quickly as possible.
Telstra is encouraging customers to use payphones, which offer free calls and Wi-Fi, to stay connected during the cyclone.
A Telstra spokesperson told Channel News: “Our network sites have backup systems that are keeping services running for as long as possible, but there may be disruptions if power’s out for a long time in your area or if access is cut to a site.”
Ahead of the cyclone, Telstra deployed temporary power generators and has teams on the ground ready to restore affected services as soon as conditions allow.
“Extended power outages are often a major cause of network disruption,” the spokesperson added. “Ahead of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, we’ve been constantly assessing at-risk areas as well as moving temporary power generators into staging locations where they’re ready to be deployed quickly.
“We have teams on the ground ready to go and we’re working closely with authorities to ensure we can get in and bring affected services back online ASAP.”
