A coffee addicted researcher attached to this blog recently hurried along to a Jamaica Blue outlet in Townsville keen to get her birthday cake and freebie cup of coffee under the customer loyalty card system . Alas , when she fronting up to Jamaica Blue, in the Castletown shopping centre , it was no longer operating , a sign saying that due to unforeseen circumstances it had closed.
Next day , the Townsville Bulletin had a short item about a popular coffee shop ,Jamaica Blue , serving James Cook University , suddenly closing . No mention of the one at Castletown , no mention of the one at Stockland . No doubt local reporters will get an explanation why the closures , the situation of the staff , might even do a wider story about other cafes closing their doors , two recently in the nightclub precinct, that have gone unreported .
In Townsville and other regional centres throughout Australia shop closures have been thick and fast, indicative of tough times .
A visitor from the Gold Coast last week commented the Townsville CBD presented a sad sight with so many empty shops up for sale or lease . The city seemed livelier 37 years ago, he declared . He did agree that it is symptomatic of CBDs throughout the nation due to people shopping on line , supermarkets moving further out with free parking , tight economic conditions and mounting overheard costs for shopkeepers .
A Townsville resident who visited Mackay recently said its CBD was depressingly flat , more so than that of Townsville .
There was an informative ABC Radio National BBC documentary a few months ago dealing with the struggle of old shopping centres all over the world to survive. It cited instances where civic authorities and governments had pumped large amounts of money into them with varying degrees of success .
In the Northern Territory capital of Darwin the former busy CBD is a shadow of its former self . A troubled hotel , a former Commonwealth Bank , which survived the bombing of Darwin , trading as Rorke's , got into trouble closed for a time , has just changed hands .
The nearby Vic Hotel, the part stone building above , opposite The Star Theatre , once a busy centre of activity, has been closed for ages. A Melbourne journalist , with fond memories of The Vic , recently back in Darwin , said it was a sorry sight to see the popular watering hole shut up . Another Darwin café has just pulled down the shutters .
A good news story from Darwin is that the popular Cool Spot at Fannie Bay has reopened after extensive refurbishment . It was a regular rendezvous for businessmen, journalists , photographers , entrepreneurial firemen , gardening gurus . As a matter of fact , this blog received an unexpected telephone call from customers in the new shiny Cool Spot singing its praises .
While there are many empty shops in greater Darwin, there are plans for an 18 storey multi purpose apartment block in Daly Street with a boutique style pub, restaurant , gymnasium, gaming room and children's play area .
