CLIENT: CHAPEL STREET PRECINCT
OUTLET: NEWS.COM.AU
Melbourne business owners have described the latest lockdown as “heartbreaking” after losing tens of thousands of dollars in income and stock set for bumper Valentine’s Day celebrations.
Will Newton’s restaurant on Melbourne’s famous Chapel St was made for the day considering it’s called Lover, but he was “blindsided” by the snap decision to impose a COVID-19 lockdown before its busiest night of the year. As a result, his restaurant lost $40,000 in income and between $5,000 and $10,000 in produce, including 500 oysters that went uneaten.
“We were fully booked for the whole weekend being that our name is Lover — it is our time to shine — and we were really looking forward to the extra income that was going to come from the Valentine’s surge,” he told news.com.au.