FRESH PIZZA, READING FEATS, AND BEAUTY TREATS

Business is starting to boom again at the Spring Street shops, with a trio of new businesses opening their doors in the last few months. The newsagency, pizza shop, and beauty mart are drawing in customers from across Preston and Reservoir, and locals are excited about the new opportunities that these businesses offer.

117 Spring Street has been the home of pizza for over 20 years. The last pizza shop closed in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the site was empty for years. Last November, Two Mates Place opened. It took months of renovations and a lot of work to get the shop back in good shape, owner Pankaji Gurung said.

Two Mates Place offers pizza, pasta, and more from the kitchen, such as chicken schnitzel and parma. Vegetarian options are available. It's open from 5 pm each night except Tuesdays, and diners can eat in, take their food to go or order online. Delivery is available through Uber Eats and Menulog.

A week after Two Mates Place debuted, Lakeside News opened its doors.

Lakeside News & Lotto is new to Spring Street but not Reservoir. Previously on Gilbert Rd, Lou Marinelli moved his shop when the property owner sold the building. Despite being in business for over ten years, opening at a new location is like starting all over again.

"Compared to Gilbert Rd, it's going to take a little bit of time," Lou said. "People are getting used to us. We've had a lot of people from the old shop coming here, and we're getting new faces everyday."

Lakeside News & Lotto offers a range of newspapers and magazines, lotto products, greeting cards, home and office stationery, and more. The newsagency also has a print/copy machine and is a Sendle location. Lakeside News & Lotto opens at 7 am every day except Sunday.

Like Lakeside News & Lotto, Hair Beauty Mart (HBM) is new to Spring Street but not to business. Established in 2015, HBM is a family-owned business with a store on Plenty Road in Kingsbury. When they started moving into Reservoir in December, they intended the second shop to be used for storage.

"We wanted storage more than anything and to have the stock more accessible. Then it became more," Giovanni Accetta said. "We saw we could put a retail space at the front, a little salon back here, and we started moving things around and putting in shelves. We thought we could make this quite a nice little boutique shop."

HBM is primarily a wholesaler serving the local hairdressers and beauticians in the northern suburbs. The Spring Street shop now offers a retail range of hair and beauty products, as well as salon services and is open from 9 am every day except Sunday.

Spring Street has seen many businesses close over the last couple of years, including the local milk bar. Two Mates Place, Lakeside News & Lotto, and HBM are welcome additions that help revive the area. By offering a wide range of products and services, they are helping to drive foot traffic to the Spring Street area, boosting the local economy and helping to strengthen the community.