The Braidwood Bakery would normally bake about 3000 pies for the first Saturday of the summer school holidays, but with the Kings Highway shut and fires continuing to affect the town's businesses, only 700 will come through the ovens.
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Bakery owner John Woodman said natural disasters had far and wide reaching ramifications that had "decimated" the trade in Braidwood and on the South Coast.
"We're about 70 per cent down. That's the best gauge to put on it. That's across the board," he said.
Mr Woodman said when the Kings Highway reopened briefly last week, trade did not pick up as expected and the bakery was still 30 per cent down on the corresponding day last year.
"They're looking out down the coast going, 'Is there going to be fires down there? Maybe not. Maybe. But you know what, I'm not going to go down the coast because I could be stuffed around with possible road closures or impending fires.'
"So now the road doesn't have to be shut for us to be still losing business," he said.
Mr Woodman said the long-lasting effects of bushfire were not something he had considered before.
"It's not just us. Our staff get laid off because we don't need as many staff, because it's a lot less busy, so they're not earning their normal income," he said.
He said it was hard to say when things would return to normal for Braidwood.
"Going forward, I don't know how we're going to go. It will just depend totally on the road closure. I do know people have started to cancel their holidays down the coast."
This week the town's main street was eerily quiet and business owners faced tough decisions in an already extremely difficult summer.
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Robert Aernout, whose Original Lamp Shop in Braidwood is the only one of its kind in Australia, said the highway closure had been devastating for trade.
He said he was in a fortunate position where his shop could weather the current decline in sales, but others in the town were facing closing and letting staff go.
"I'm a one-man business and apart from that, it's lucky I have other means of income.
"I feel sorry for all the other people here, you know," he said, saying other business owners had begun to openly talk about the need to stand down staff.
On Saturday he said conditions in Braidwood had been "terrible" and fire conditions had again made residents nervous.
"The smoke has been horrendous, because we had the easterly come in," Mr Aernout said.
"And, business wise, there were quite a few people from Canberra in town. But the bakery, again, no people in it
"I opened my business but I went home as well. I put a sign out, give me a ring, and I will come to the shop, because I had everything out ... but I only had one call and while I was there I had somebody else in, and that's it.
"I'll normally get plenty of people. There could be 20, 30 or more."
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
