A long-standing Banbridge shop has announced it will close its doors this Christmas Eve, with the co-owner warning that running a small business has become “nearly impossible” due to soaring costs and that theirs “definitely won’t be the last”.
Mynt Entertainment, which has operated in the town under different guises for 18 years but most recently as a sweet treats and coffee house, will cease trading at 6pm on Tuesday, December 24.
The announcement was made in an emotional statement by co-owner David McCavitt, who said the decision had been made “with a very heavy heart”.
Mr McCavitt thanked the “many, many, many people” who had supported Mynt over nearly two decades, saying staff had always tried their best “sometimes under difficult conditions”.
“We could go into a whole litany of the why’s and who’s and supposed reasons for why Mynt… has to close but that would not make our decision any easier,” he wrote.
“We are not the first small business nor will we definitely be the last to have to make the very difficult decision to close its doors in the current economic climate we are all trying to live in.”
Speaking to Armagh I, Mr McCavitt blasted the “extortionate” rent and rates in Banbridge.
“Everything from rent, rates, gas, electric and insurance is going up – but businesses are not being helped to cope with the continuous rise.”
He said wage increases, which he whole-heartedly supports, had not been matched with any relief or assistance for small employers.
“People deserve to be paid more, absolutely. But the government isn’t doing anything to counteract that from a small business point of view.”
Mr McCavitt also raised concerns about a lack of emphasis from Council on the town centre. While he said it was great to see The Outlet doing well and attractive visitors from a far, “it seems to be that’s where the council’s main focus is – and small businesses are at the detriment of it.”
“There is no focus on making our high street more attractive to shoppers or visitors,” he said. And the Mynt co-owner fears a future where independent businesses are priced out, leaving only multinational chains.
“When small businesses go out of business, who gains? The multinationals gain,” he said. “When all the wee coffee shops go out of business, where do you have to go – Costa or Starbucks? When all the wee corner shops go out of business, where do you have to go – Tesco or Sainsbury’s? When all the chippies go out of business, where do you have to go – McDonald’s, KFC or Burger King?
“You can see it happening right in front of our eyes.”
He added that many of his customers were “hard-working family people” whose disposable income has “disappeared” under rising living costs.
“I can’t put my prices up 50%, or 40%, or 20% to cover the increase in overhead,” he said.
While acknowledging that some small businesses were still managing to thrive, Mr McCavitt said they were becoming “few and far between”.
“Ten or twenty years ago, owning a small business was probably a lot easier to earn money and grow and develop a business than it is now,” he said. “It’s become nearly impossible now.”
Mynt Entertainment will remain open until Christmas Eve, with Mr McCavitt saying the team hope to see as many customers as possible before the doors close for the final time.
