Businesses are bought and sold all the time, though at present there are seven popular ventures looking to change hands in the northern Illawarra suburb of Thirroul.
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From a busy seafood restaurant to a newsagent, flower shop, Chinese cuisine eatery and family pizzeria - it's unusual to find so many in a small area up for sale at once.
But it doesn't seem to be just lack of business that is signalling this changing of the guard, as the suburb is quite an easy market to sell says a prominent business broker.
Enzo Conti has sold hundreds of businesses over two decades and is currently looking after the sale of Cin Cin, as the owners are focusing their efforts on their Balgownie operation.
"I remember Thirroul when it was just a sleepy little suburb," Mr Conti said.
Now it's quite a "wealthy" suburb full of Sydney commuters and weekend day-trippers who have money to spend, he said.
When businesses do change hands it comes down to multiple factors including the landlord, the rent, lease plus terms and conditions, according to Mr Conti.
Co-owner of Black Market Roasters Angus Nicol agreed, but said while it was an expensive suburb to be in his operation was ready for a new owner as they are expanding commercially.
The roasters supply beans to dozens of other cafes as well as running barista courses. There are also plans to open a Wollongong training facility.
"Our cafe is going really, really well," Mr Nicol said. "Being a full-time manager you need to be involved on a day to day basis and for us - with so much other stuff going on - I think it's a wasted opportunity being in the site, as we want to do some cool stuff."
I think all businesses have ups and downs ... but people want to shop local and support local families.
Business broker Cristina Comelli is looking after the sale of four other businesses and told the Mercury it's possibly a coincidence they're all available now.
"There is always a lot of activity in Thirroul and we get a lot of it because we manage a lot of the properties," Ms Comelli said.
"One's selling because they've had to go back overseas, one's selling as her husband travels a lot and she wants to travel with him because she's retiring, yeah, there's many different reasons."
For budding entrepreneurs looking to seize the day and buy into a suburb with 6000 people (including 1600 families), two business owners who are staying put attest local support and seasonal trade is what keeps them going.
"I think all businesses have ups and downs," said Renee Dunbar, who has owned D'Vine Skin & Body for 10 years. "But people want to shop local and support local families."
Co-owner of Old South Harold Agpoon said since opening late last year they've come to realise trade is not as consistent as other venues they've run, but they're tackling them head on and want to open a second venture in Wollongong.
Illawarra business outlook overall
There are currently hundreds of businesses listed for sale in the Illawarra on Commercial Real Estate, and no need to call "doomsday" on the region's north, according to the peak advocating body.
Adam Zarth, executive director of the Illawarra Business Chamber (IBC), said Thirroul has quite the "entrepreneurial culture". He also noted the suburb has a large commuter population, but said the IBC was pushing to create thousands more jobs to lure them back.
"Perhaps daytime trade could be stronger if there were more jobs located within the Wollongong [Local Government Area]," Mr Zarth said.
"You might find that day trade throughout the Illawarra is lower because we do have 23,000 people heading up the road to work in Sydney. But that's not a criticism, because we want people to have the choice to work wherever the hell they want."
Mr Zarth said the IBC was backing Wollongong City Council's new jobs strategy, with a target of creating 10,500 jobs in the next decade.
Theres quite an entrepreneurial culture in Thirroul ... I wouldn't be calling doomsday just yet.
- Illawarra Business Chamber's Adam Zarth
He said previously if a big business with around 180 relocated from Sydney to Wollongong it would have an "immense" economic flow-on effect.
"All of a sudden you see busy cafes and everything like that," he said. "We need to redouble our efforts to attract really significant employers to the region ... [like] incentives for the relocation of any sort of professional services company - your financial services, insurance companies and technology - anything with high-paying and skilled jobs."
Mr Zarth said he didn't want to see the Illawarra become another "commuter hub" like the Central Coast, as our region had too many assets like a university, deep water port and industry surrounding that.
"We know that conditions are getting tougher for retailers, that's just the facts of the matter nationally," he said.
"We just encourage people to continue to support bricks and mortar retailers so long as they want vibrant, local shopping centres."