Regional NSW's 18-month lockdown-free run has ended with the state government introducing stay-at-home orders for seven days.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The lockdown was announced at 2.30pm on Saturday, giving less than four hours' notice to fully-booked restaurants and venues.
Many retail stores closed immediately after the rules were flagged by Deputy Premier John Barilaro on social media.
The Woolhouse owner and manager Gavin Spencer said the move wasn't a complete shock, but more notice should have been given.
"When I collected my daughter from school yesterday, the school told her to make sure Zoom was working and told her to take every single textbook home - so there was something going on," he said.
"I then heard whispers it would be 5 o'clock Sunday, so I thought, 'That's OK, we'll get through Saturday and then plan from there'.
"Considering they didn't say anything at 11 o'clock, and then it (the announcement) wasn't even a press conference - it was a release going, 'Everybody's locked down' on two hours' notice, that's ridiculous."
The Woolhouse was among the popular Albury venues with full cool-rooms, ready for a Saturday night trade.
"Food will be wasted - we'll sort takeaway out next week and that's OK, but you know, I don't have the containers right now to do takeaway," Mr Spencer said.
"I don't even know what the rules are at 5 o'clock, all I know is we're shut down."
Dean Street eateries will again transition to takeaway like they did in March, 2020, with venues such as Urban Graze considering extending opening hours later into the night to cater for takeaway.
Shoe Warehouse Albury manager Deb McAlister said many businesses were disappointed but prepared to wear the lockdown, with there still being anecdotes of people unnecessarily travelling such as customers who had travelled four hours to shop for shoes in Albury.
"The only reason we knew was because a guy was going to an event at Corowa tonight and got a phone call from the mayor saying it was cancelled, around 2.30pm," she said.
"I would rather it (the lockdown) have happened a long time ago ... we could have dealt with it then, with less deaths and cases.
"We don't want it here ... and it was coming this way.
"I think we've always stuck to the rules and not stepped outside our zone."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Ms McAlister will continue working on crucial online sales but with no customers, staff will be unable to work.
"It's going to be eerie, driving in and seeing that there's nobody," she said.
"If it's longer than a week, we'll all really feel it."
