The Eat Street Northshore Market Could Close Permanently Due to Coronavirus

Hamilton’s Eat Street Northshore market risks not making it through the Covid-19 shutdown and closing permanently, according to a Courier-Mail report.

The enormously popular weekend food and drink destination has been closed since mid-March, when the federal government put a stop to gatherings of more than 500 people.

The company has enough cash to see out the rest of the year if the federal government’s Jobkeeker program continues, but its decision to waive rent for its 65 eateries and stores has left it with virtually no revenue, the Courier reports.

“We're just hoping the money we've put aside to operate holds out until we go back,” Eat Street director John Stainton told the paper. “If it doesn’t, we’ll go under. We can only go so far.”

Eat Street’s festival-like nature means it could be among the last businesses allowed to reopen under any further loosening of coronavirus restrictions.

“Until we get back to normal, a vaccine is found or the virus is in a controlled state, there’s no way of knowing when we can reopen,” Stainton told the Courier. “It’s dreadful … it’s shattering.”

The news follows the state government’s recent decision to begin loosening some of Queensland’s most stringent Covid-19 restrictions , with Queenslanders now allowed to visit the beach and picnic in parks with members of the same household (people who live alone can meet up with one other person), and travel up to 50 kilometres from their place of residence.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk also flagged on the weekend that restaurants and bars could reopen as soon as next month , but the return of larger events such as Eat Street is likely still some way off.