A Lithgow stalwart, The Old Exchange restaurant has shut its doors, with the Warren family turning their attention to their latest venture in Hartley Vale. 

“It was very much a personal choice,” Stephen Warren said.

“We’ve all been working there a long time. Mum and Dad started there about 25 years ago, back when I was scrubbing dishes in there when I was about 10.

“We’re getting quite busy down at Hartley,” he said. 

Mr Warren said the decision to move the family’s restaurant to Collits Inn, which they operate as a wedding venue, was not motivated by business performance.

“It is only a small part of it. Back 25 years ago, when there was nine or ten coal mines in operation and both power stations were in full swing the economy in town was a whole lot brighter.

“There’s been an increase in visitor and tourist numbers but the local trade in the last two or three years has been steady but inconsistent at the same time. It’s quite unpredictable.”

Across the road Bev Matthews at Curtain Studio has decided to shut the shop in September. It has been on Main Street for seven years.

“I’m closing because since the roadworks started my business has died. For seven months I have been down 70 per cent in my sales, and I can’t possibly recoup that.”

Ms Matthews will continue making curtains but said those wanting to buy materials to furnish their home will now have to go out of town.

On Curtain Studio’s block, between the station and Eskbank Street, around a fifth of the stores are vacant. 

Bill’s Old-Fashioned Cakes and Pies, on that same block, has, however, reported a pick-up in trade since the removal of roadworks barriers a fortnight ago. 

“They moved the barricades and at 8am it was back to business straight away,” Jackie Dowler said. 

“We were up 20 percent in the first week.”

Ms Dowler, however, does not believe business will recover to where it was before revitalisation works began. 

“I don’t think we’ll get back to normal, too many businesses are closing down.”

Andrew Powrie, Lithgow Council's economic development and tourism manager said the vacancies on Main Street, while not desirable, were not dissimilar to the state’s trend.

“At the end of the day, my aspirational goal is that there are zero vacancies,” he said. 

“It’s one of those situations where we’ve had businesses closing down but we have had some open up as well.”

He said he would be inviting Main Street retailers to participate in a new business building and activation project in coming months. 

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