Crunch time for Adelaide bars and pubs
The Adelaide bar scene is changing. Some of it is for the best, some is not so good.
On the plus side, the city has had a boom of small bars opening over the last two years. That’s energised the city, to some point.
On the other hand, many of the traditional larger pubs that served up great food, were open for long nights and, in many cases, went through massive renovations have closed.
Over the last two years, the Whitmore Hotel, the Brunswick, the Stag, the Colonel Light, the Dog and Duck, the Duke of York, the Tivoli, the Marble Bar, the Chiaro Bar, the Crown and Sceptre, the Directors and the Hampshire have all shut their doors.
Simply put, the old guard is struggling with increasing costs including utilities, labour and rates and taxes increasing by more than double CPI, little or no revenue growth and increasing competition.
For Adelaide’s hotel industry, it’s the toughest time in a decade.
Australian Hotels Association SA general manager Ian Horne says one of the critical factors is population, or lack of it.
“Adelaide was the third largest Australian city until the late 1970s, but now sits a long way back at fifth, with the gap widening based on predictions to 2050,’’ Horne told the Adelaide Advertiser.
“That reality impacts on retail spend, infrastructure capacity, economic activity and the capacity to attract investment. In the last 15 years the supply side – number of new liquor licences – has grown at an extraordinary rate compared to any other city but demand has stagnated.
“Add to that a recent report which confirms SA has the most liquor licences per head of population and competition is a major factor with new licences increasing by more than 40 per cent since 2003.”
All up, it hasn’t been easy in Adelaide. Then again, the South Australian economy is struggling with unemployment there sitting at 7.7 per cent – the highest in the country. And that means a lot of other businesses would be doing it hard too.
The problem is that until that’s fixed, the pub industry will probably continue to struggle. And the place loses some of its history every time a pub closes its doors.
by Leon Gettler, August 12th 2016
