Shoppers return to Braddon's Lonsdale Street after dire COVID-hit start to 2022

Though not an unfamiliar scene in the heartland of Canberra's local dining and retail scene, it is one that has been sorely missed by businesses along the strip.

In February, POP Canberra owner Gabe Trew was facing a looming crisis.

The store, which stocks locally-made and sourced wares, would only be viable for another three months if patronage stayed as low as it was.

Three months on, Mr Trew said a return of shoppers to the street in April and efforts to rebrand the local shopping experience had brought average daily visitors to the shop to 315, up from 85 in February.

Average spend per sale had climbed 25 per cent since February, Mr Trew said.

"After the beginning of the year we were feeling a little bit demoralised ... just seeing the city empty out, business kind of evaporate a little bit," he said.

"I just started thinking, 'How could we ... retell the story of local shopping again'?"

Amping up customer service, advertising across social media platforms as well as investing in "the experience" of local shopping -- bringing back live music and tastings -- helped to remind fatigued shoppers of the merits of supporting local, Mr Trew said.

But Braddon has also seen a strong return of shoppers, foot traffic data collected by the City Renewal Authority shows.

On every weekend evening in April, foot traffic was between 47 and 86 per cent above average, with visitors staying longer than they had even before the pandemic.

For February and March 2022, the average dwell time was approximately 30 per cent higher than it was in these months in 2020.

"There's definitely a little bit more of a swell in terms of general customers and people on the street," Mr Trew said.

Trading for eight months, Braddon Flowers owner Lauren King has been surprised by the number of people discovering her shop for the first time.

"It's just that impulse buy," she said. "People walking past, seeing the shop."

"A lot of people didn't even really know that I was here or didn't know where I was because they haven't been going to work, they haven't been in the office and in the city."

The uptick has only really happened over the last month, with March the quietest for her store.

Her revenue was now split evenly between online and in-store shoppers, she said.

Ms King said she had felt the urge to "rebrand" throughout the ups and downs of the COVID recovery.

"I definitely have had aspects of feeling like I need to rebrand, or do something new or change my product," she said.

"Every six weeks to two months I do try and change over what I'm offering on my online store, change the store around -- the physical shopfront around."

Retail turnover in the ACT climbed up 10.5 per cent in March from February, in the latest data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

It's the first climb since December 2021, after January and February recorded downturns of 22 and 5.7 per cent respectively.

A traditional post-Christmas lull, combined with Canberra's Omicron outbreak, hit businesses particularly hard, with foot traffic down in Braddon over the school holiday period.

Seventy-two per cent of 132 traders surveyed by the Canberra Business Chamber said they were worse off at the beginning of January 2022 than they were in early December 2021.

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Summernats proved an exception, though, nearly doubling average evening foot traffic in Braddon.

A City Renewal Authority spokesperson said this highlighted how important events were for driving economic outcomes.

Foot traffic in Braddon and Civic was 35 per cent higher than the average over the preceding six months during Enlighten, the territory's light festival which spanned the first half of March.

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