It’s been a little hard not to notice. But as per usual, there’s so much going on that everyone’s typically blaseé, going about their daily life. The amount of ‘for lease’ signs and ‘closing down sales’ on Toorak Road South Yarra is unbelievable.  It was only when I was buying my coffee from one of the two remaining milk bars, that the shop owner said that the rent on the strip is just too much.

So if a tree falls down, doesn’t another grow? Well apparently no. Even one pub has shut down in the past two years (how the hell can a pub in South Yarra be low on business). If it was Chapel St, a poncy boutique would be up within seconds. Toorak Road is proving not so trendy or resilient. Even the upper crust boutiquey stuff can’t really compete with Toorak Village. Or for that matter, Brunswick St. Looks like the local shop owners haven’t really been keeping hip to the times. Frankly, I can think of about 10 vacant shops on Toorak Road for let at the moment:

- the old Potts Bakery
- two shops next to Potts.
- the old aquarium
- the old pub
- the old Saba outlet
- a vacant shop next to Beyond 2000 gifts
- the Comic Mint (now with a tenant)
- the old National Bank
- some former gift shop

Hopefully it will present a unique opportunity for South Yarra. If the shop owners drop the rent, hopefully there might be somewhere decent and not too poncy to eat. I don’t mean like McDonalds, but just a Brunswick St Fitzroy style cafe, instead of the a la Bill Granger $30 Croque Monsieur with frittata (OK I made that up) stuff the cafes are churning out at the moment. Please someone get in there and do something! The place is starting to look like Boronia before they made the train tunnel.