By James Wells
SYDNEY: Patrick Tynan has revealed to Current.com.au that the decision to close his Betta Electrical store after 18 years followed a number of contributing factors relating to tough trading conditions in the local area.
“The local issues are the prime reason. Shoalhaven has the highest unemployment in the country at 12 per cent. Until recently we had been heavily in drought and this has had an effect on the local economy.
“In the area, we have a big Harvey Norman, a big Good Guys, Retravision, a Dick Smith and a number of air con and hi fi specialists. We also have all of the mass merchants including Kmart, Target, Aldi and Woolies all selling goods that compete with us.
“Three major employers have closed over the last 18 months and this has resulted in 1,000 jobs lost in the local economy – all of those things have added up to a tough trading environment, ” he said.
The three businesses which have closed down were Gates Rubber, which supplied all of the automotive rubber products as well as components including radiator hoses for Ford and Holden, Australian Paper closed half of the shifts at the Bomadery Paper Mill, while Dairy Farmers, which supplies all of the milk on the south coast, closed its milk processing factories.
Tynan has had an exhausting 12 month period which included the administration and receivership of Betta Stores Limited – the publicly-listed business which owned the franchise rights to the Betta Electrical and Chandlers stores and was itself a retailer as well.