NELSON Place restaurant owners in Williamstown have gained momentum in trade after experiencing a downturn in sales during November and early December.

Williamstown Chamber of Commerce (WCC) president Tony Napoli, who owns Sam’s Boatshed and Amorosa restaurants, said there was a 20 per cent downturn in trade during these months, but warmer weather had helped pick up trade over the Christmas and New Year period.

“In general we have been lucky that we have still had steady patronage and regular clientele, but there is no doubt that consumers in general have become more cautious and responsible with the way they are spending their disposable income,” he said.

The pick-up in trade for restaurant owners has run consistent with the Hobsons Bay Visitor Information Centre statistics, which show a slight increase in visitor numbers from December 2007 to December 2008.

In 2007 there were 4564 visitors compared to 4701 visitors in 2008.

However Mr Napoli said now the festive period was over it would be interesting to see how confident consumers would remain in their spending.

“Many business owners are concerned that consumers will continue to reduce their spending,” he said.

“The WCC will be pro-active to ensure that our local shopping village remains a popular spot for local residents and visitors.”

Williamstown Mussels manager Ian Smith said December was a better month than November.

“December in general is not a very busy month as people watch their spending more carefully prior to Christmas,” he said.

“Trade for us depends heavily on the weather, if the weather is good, trade is good.”

Atomic Bar owner Marty Grech also said the weather was a major factor in how many people would dine at his restaurant.

“For us trade is strongly affected by weather, if we have a nice summer trade is good,” he said.

“Overall looking at December figures there was no major decrease in comparison to last year.”

For Breizoz French Creperie manager Catherine Ryan trade has been at record strength.

“We picked up a lot of South African tourists, thanks to the cricket,” she said.

“The sailing comp brought lots of people into town and lots of people haven’t gone away.

“Having said that most of our trade is holiday customers and not regulars, especially on key dates.

“We also have lots of functions booked for January, which I often have only one or no functions booked in January.”