Killian's Walk store Lanamee closes in blow to Bendigo CBD

Nadja Bettin's business Lanamee stocked handmade wares and has become a casualty of an economy hit by shock after shock in recent years.

"From what I was seeing and people were saying, the cost of living is too high," Ms Bettin said.

"People don't have that extra cash to spend and if they do want to buy a gift they are going to go to the chain store, not the small little independents."

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Adding to pressures was low foot traffic in a part of town short on ways to draw shoppers down, Ms Bettin said.

"It's not just my business affected by that, there are others," she said.

Hopes of drawing more people into the area have taken a hit as owners of a potential Hargreaves Mall hotel put their building up for sale.

It is unclear whether anyone will step in to salvage plans for the $14.4 million, 110-room hotel many business owners hoped would breathe new life into Hargreaves Mall.

Ms Bettin spoke with the Advertiser before news about the hotel emerged but said there were ways to deal with the mall's many empty shopfronts.

"There's got to be incentives for small businesses to go back into the mall and give it a go. I don't think the mall is unattractive, it's quite a nice place," she said.

"But if it is not activated it is going to attract the wrong type of people, which will put off the shoppers."

Now might be time for a rethink on the costs small businesses bear in the mall, Ms Bettin said.

"A lot of the rent that is being asked for is unreasonable, particularly in the mall," she said.

Ms Bettin once considered opening a store in the mall itself only to find she would be paying the same price as a similar-sized space she was then operating in Richmond.

"The rates in Bendigo were more expensive in Richmond with less chance of foot traffic," Ms Bettin said.

Incentives could include pop-up stores or rent-free periods, she said.

Those sorts of ideas have been known to work in other Australian city centres, including Newcastle, which in 2008 started offering creatives short-term leases in long-empty shopfronts to enliven the area.

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Ms Bettin is herself hoping someone might want to stick a pop-up shop in her Killian's Walk space over the Christmas sales period, when foot traffic is expected to climb.

"It might be a great opportunity for local makers to go in and hopefully sell something," she said.

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