"There are lights on for the first time in a few other stores," she said today, as she prepared her own shop to open again on Saturday.

Proud's, located in Goulburn Square, shut temporarily in response to the COVID-19 restrictions, but the company has given the green light to trading again, although they will observe restrictions on the number of people who are in the store at any one time.

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"It's good!" said Brooke. "We've only been in here at certain times for people to pick up repairs by appointment, and we've had people banging on the door to buy gifts.

"It's great that they can come into the shop again, just in time for Mother's Day."

While many shoppers turned to online shopping during the shutdown, Brooke said she thought that delays in deliveries had caused frustration for people.

"Now people can come in and get last minute gifts," she said, adding that she has observed many more people in the shopping precinct over the last couple of days.

Down the corridor at Lowes, manager Lesley Walsh agreed that foot traffic was definitely picking up.

"Not that the cold weather has hit, we've actually had quite a good week," she said.

Lowes didn't shut completely, only reducing their hours in response to the COVID-19 restrictions.

Lesley said she hoped that the renewed bustle was not a sign of people disregarding the rules.

"We don't want people to get complacent," she said.

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