A popular bakery chain known for its iconic treat is to close its doors in Melbourne due to rising operating costs.
Black Star Pastry is closing all three of its Melbourne stores – in the CBD, St Kilda and Chadstone – on Sunday.
The eatery said on social media that the difficult decision was made because it is no longer viable to operate the businesses in Victoria.
“Rising costs, a challenging economic climate and industry-wide staff shortages have forced us to consolidate our team and shift our focus to our original home base of Sydney,” the statement said.
‘For five years, our team has put their heart, passion and creativity into creating all the cakes, pastries and coffee served in our stores’.
The company thanked customers for their support of the Melbourne bakery after it first opened its doors in the Prince Hotel in St Kilda in 2019.
The bakery quickly became popular thanks to its world-famous strawberry-watermelon pie.
“We had a wonderful trip and built many beautiful friendships. We hope to see you again soon,” the message ended.
Black Star Pastry to close all three stores in Melbourne, St Kilda and Chadstone on Sunday
The move will not affect the Sydney stores, which will ‘remain open as usual’.
Black Star Pastry has stores in the city, Newtown, Rosebery and Chatswood.
The company has also opened pop-up stores in Burwood and Broadway.
Black Star Pastry sells over a million pieces of their original pies each year.
The bakery was first established in Newtown in 2008 by renowned pastry chef Christopher The, who created the strawberry watermelon tart.
The restaurant quickly caught the attention of Louis Li, the founder of Victorian luxury accommodation group Jackalope Hotel Group.
The bakery quickly became popular in Melbourne thanks to their world famous strawberry watermelon cake
Mr. Li was so impressed with the cake that he decided to take over the business after becoming the majority shareholder in 2018.
Australia’s hospitality sector continues to struggle due to inflation and successive interest rate hikes.
Leading Australian business analysis firm CreditorWatch predicts that one in 13 hospitality businesses will go bust in the next year.
The bakery announced on social media that a difficult decision had been made to close its Melbourne stores as it was no longer viable to operate the businesses in Victoria.
Patrick Coghlan, CEO of CreditorWatch, warned that conditions for hospitality businesses will get worse before they get better.
“The outlook for the hospitality industry is unlikely to improve until we see an increase in consumer spending,” Mr Coghlan said in a statement.
“That’s not going to happen until the effects of one or two rate cuts start to filter through to households. We don’t expect that to be felt until at least the second half of next year.”