WOLLONGONG ADVERTISER
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Parking meters and the ‘‘destruction’’ of Crown Street Mall are the last straw for one long-time mall retailer.
Jim McDonogh, an expert engraver who runs Mr Quickfix at 7a, 81 Church Street, has decided to shut up shop after 43 years in the business, including more than 28 years in the mall.
‘‘I’ll probably see Christmas out. It’s going to be hard to leave because I’ve been in Wollongong all my life,’’ he said.
‘‘I’ve seen some changes for the good, some for the bad. I’ve made so many friends over the years and I’m going to miss a lot of people.
‘‘I had a woman come all the way from Port Macquarie this year...I’d engraved her engagement and wedding ring, her daughter’s and now I’ve done her granddaughter’s. To me that was pretty special.’’
The 68-year-old had hoped to stay another five years but it was the first time he’d had trouble making rent.
‘‘I can show books from the very first day when the Mercury printed parking meters were going to be put in Wollongong, I started to get a decline in business and when they decided to rip up the mall, that just about put the nail in the coffin.
‘‘I’ve stuck on as long as I can. I’m either going to have to relocate or work from home.’’
The parking meters killed off 50per cent of his business, with customers no longer travelling from as far away as Ulladulla and the Southern Highlands.
Mr McDonogh said he was disgusted and ashamed of what Wollongong City Council had done to the mall.
The vision of a ‘‘City of Arches’’ had been destroyed. The arches could be seen at the taxi rank, Civic Plaza laneway and the Steelers Club but the birdcage was gone and each council had dismantled aspects of the plan.
‘‘The giant chess board was a multicultural meeting point, I loved it. The stage – it was the only time you could say the mall came to a standstill – we had rock stars, politicians.
‘‘The survey we did on the mall showed that the only things people really wanted was a roof over the birdcage and public toilets.’’
Mr McDonogh began his engraving apprenticeship aged 14 on November 4, 1959, at Glynn Jones Wollongong Engraving in Keira Street.
After five years with Mr Jones, he worked with engraver Jock McKay at Coles and later Crown Central. Mr McDonogh later ran his own Dapto business, Jimani Trophies in Hamilton Street.
After spending a year coaching rugby league in England he returned to work with Mr McKay at Mr Quickfix in Crown Central and 12 years ago the pair moved to their current location.
‘‘Up until about four years ago when Jock was diagnosed with cancer, we’d been together on and off over 50 years.’’