Latest articles by Rhonda Dredge
Catching up with Dan
Melbourne’s CBD dwellers are still singing the praises of the city particularly at dusk when the spaces are empty and the lights of the streets compete with the glow of the sky.
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Landlords are suffering as well
Five levels of 19th century brick in Hardware Lane were a dream investment for almost 40 years for the Halat family.
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Wedding invitations on the go
From the outside, Print City in Flinders Lane looks a bit like a dungeon and during the lockdown it has often been occupied by a lone worker, eerily condemned to a life of toil underground.
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The business of staying alive
For some in the CBD, it’s a challenge making ends meet so news of a “Need Help” sign on the front of the Cross Culture church in Swanston St spread quickly
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Butchers reassure shoppers
With so many factors working against the meat trade, it was a miracle that butchers at the Queen Victoria Market (QVM) were still able to crack a smile on the first day of the new lockdown shopping.
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The words of a true writer
A book that has strongly resurfaced from its 20th century cave is The Plague by Albert Camus, an account of an imaginary epidemic in the African town of Oran in Algeria.
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A perfect platform for café life
During the two successive lockdowns that have inhibited our cafe culture, some characters around the CBD have inspired others with their generosity and style.
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A bad day for all of us
Values are changing swiftly in the laneways of the CBD as the second lockdown brings out a tougher streak in retailers and hospo workers forced to deal with the worsening health situation.
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Ovid in the time of Covid
Everyone is trying to come up with an angle to beat the debilitating impact of the virus and small independent businesses are no exception.
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A difficult comeback for Spring St
Allegations of branch stacking may be dominating the powerbrokers at Spring St, but locals along this prime piece of real estate are more concerned with getting the economy going.
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Made for the home office
There’s an old adage bandied around among gallerists that when times are difficult you show difficult art.
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City folk return to the arcades
The grace of the CBD is undeniably in its arcades but these grand urban spaces from the days of polite society are usually too full of tourists to be that attractive to local city folk.
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Yesterday, I was crying
It has been an emotional road back for businesses as they rebrand themselves for a different CBD in the interval between the old regime and the new.
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An apartment for the times
Local real estate agents Fletchers Projects has a property for sale directly across the street from the office they believe is ideally suited to the times.
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Keeping it light
Anna MacDonald works at the Paperback Bookshop at Bourke St and she’s published a book of essays called Between the Word and the World that deals with the concept of distance.
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Bring back the brick
It has been business as usual for City of Melbourne councillor Nick Reece with days full of Zoom meetings and the added load of three children at his home in Fitzroy.
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A rare find
Gold coins have sold out at Max Stern & Co as the price of gold gets close to a record high of $2637 an ounce.
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Hoping to survive
The CBD’s prime hipster hang-outs could be up for a shake-out as cafes begin the slow process of wooing back their customers.
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Staying open
The small community of business people at the top of Bourke St is keeping itself going by staying open and giving each other encouragement through the hard times.
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A product of the virus
Virus is a word on everyone’s lips, even those of three-year-olds and literary scholars, and ideas about viruses spread incredibly rapidly across the globe.
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