Easteries' futures in doubt

Up to 40 per cent of flood-damaged Brisbane and Ipswich restaurants are not expected to reopen, industry experts say. Other restaurant owners are still in talks with insurers and landlords, assessing whether they can afford to spend thousands of dollars refitting their water-damaged venues and wait weeks or months to reopen.

Restaurant and Catering Queensland chief executive John Hart said he believed 30-40 per cent of restaurants and cafes would close. "It will all come down to what sort of leases they can negotiate going forward,'' Mr Hart said. He said some marginal businesses would struggle, with the average operator's capitalisation of $92,000 facing a reinvestment of a further $100,000.

One Brisbane city riverside restaurant owner already has packed up and moved to Melbourne. At Rosalie, one of the hardest-hit cafe strips in Brisbane, less than a third of all businesses have reopened, although workmen are busy renovating many Nash St and Baroona Rd premises. Castelli's Cafe owner Barry Eagles has made the hard decision to walk away from a business his family has had for 21 years, including the past eight years at Rosalie.

"We are not going to reopen there. In order to refit we'd be spending $150,000 to $200,000,'' Mr Eagles said. Over at South Bank, owners of flooded San Marco Cafe and Wang Dynasty are still waiting for the go-ahead to start renovating, while the South Bank carpark is still full of mud and water.

Source: The Sunday Mail