THERE were times during the pandemic when Rhys Smith thought the four Newcastle businesses he owns or co-owns would tank.
Mr Smith opened surfboard store Sanbah in 2003 at The Junction, where he also has Rip Curl Australia's store.
In 2018, he and wife Sophie became partners in Drift, joining the specialist Kotara bike shop's founder Robbie Mcaughton and his wife, Alana.
Mr Smith had meanwhile opened Sanbah Grindhouse skatepark and store at Marketown, and on April 1 was due to start the fit-out of a second Drift store within that complex, as well as a "skate and snow" store.
"Drift was going in the skate park, and we were doing to do skate and snow store where the cafe was, then we just had to stop," Mr Smith says.
"We still had the skate park operational but were forced to close with government restrictions ...[then] we put the brakes on the fit-out because we didn't know what would happen in next six months.
"We hung tight and once we realised we couldn't get enough bikes for our existing store, let alone fill a new 600 square-metre area, and you couldn't travel or go to the snow, we had to put brakes on it. It forced our hand. We couldn't keep [Grindhouse] ... and there was no skate [stock] to order."
Smith and his business partners closed their stores during the lockdown, transforming their operations into "click and collect" online businesses, with customers collecting orders at the door or getting orders delivered.
Smith shifted the skate part of the business to Sanbah, moving its staff to his Junction stores.
"Four years of blood, sweat and tears went into [Grindhouse], we were operational for two years, so much went into it," he says.
Trade is ostensibly back to "normal" - except nothing is.
Drift, Sanbah and RipCurl are, Smith says, "bouncing back" with high demand, their online sales doubling.
But with most bikes and boards coming from overseas, stock delays continue.
"It's been a real tricky period, and it was pretty bad to begin with in the first three months because our biggest problem has been supply with bikes, boards and skate," he says.
"Demand has grown all over the world during COVID so all the stock got chewed up. It's kind of like it feels busier, trade seems normal again but at the same time it's the worry we have before Christmas with supply."
Bike orders remain strong and a saving grace was that Drift could shifted stock it ordered for its aborted second store to its Kotara base.
Mr Smith is philosophical about the 2020 business year.
"I am one of the lucky ones, even though we have lost a store we're lucky to have three others that are very strong," he says. "Where you are determines your trade. Our locations are good."
Drift founder Robbie McNaughton said trade was "a moving target", with bikes that had been ordered often delayed by a issues ranging from port delays to manufacturing issues. "We are trying to managing customer expectations," he said.
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