Underground traders forced out as rail works shut historic arcade

Talking points

• Rail Projects Victoria has directed Campbell Arcade tenants to vacate their shops by the end of April.
• The arcade will close for two years for the construction of a pedestrian walkway from Flinders Street Station to the new Town Hall station.
• The landlord has indicated previous long-term tenants may be able to return, but it isn’t guaranteeing future tenure.

After almost 13 years running the Cup of Truth cafe in Campbell Arcade under Melbourne’s Flinders Street, Courtney Joel has come to regard many customers as friends.

He knows their coffee orders by heart and they linger at the stand-up espresso bar and chat about cycling or their kids’ progress at school.

Courtney Joel, co-owner of Cup of Truth cafe, is among the Campbell Arcade traders who must move on by the end of April.Credit:Jason South

If they’re having a tough time at home or at work, Mr Joel will urge them “to focus on what they have, rather than what they don’t have” and tells them things may not be as bad as they seem.

Now he is taking his own advice, with the heritage-listed, tile-walled Campbell Arcade, built in 1955, about to close for two years for the construction of a pedestrian walkway from Flinders Street Station to the new Town Hall station.

The landlord, Rail Projects Victoria, has directed the handful of Campbell Arcade tenants to vacate their shops by the end of April. Cup of Truth’s last day open is April 22.

Rail Projects Victoria has said key heritage features of the arcade will be retained, including most of the shopfronts.

Mr Joel, who operates the three-metre by one-metre cafe with co-owner Jon Freeman, says he feels “melancholy” but he is determined to reopen the cafe elsewhere in the inner city, although they haven’t found new digs yet.

Railway Projects Victoria has indicated that previous long-term tenants may be able to return to the arcade after construction is finished, but it isn’t guaranteeing future tenure.

Mr Joel says it “would be nice” to return to Campbell Arcade, but he fears the rent will rise and the space may be changed.

“Everything’s so open-ended, until it’s fully done, that it has to be a maybe, because I don’t know.”

He is proud the cafe survived the COVID-19 pandemic – despite sales plunging by more than 90 per cent as commuters worked from home – thanks to government grants, rent relief from the landlord, loans, a handful of loyal customers who kept buying coffees and his desire to keep working.

Mr Joel is determined to reopen the cafe elsewhere in the inner city.Credit:Jason South

He will not quit now. “My heart is attached to Cup of Truth, not the space,” he says. “There’s no such thing as ‘not another shop’. There will be another shop. My customers, the ones who have been loyal for so long, they’ll come to us. They will find us.”

Zine store Sticky Institute will reopen on Level 8 of the Nicholas Building in nearby Swanston Street on April 2, having closed on March 19 after two decades in Campbell Arcade.

Luke Sinclair, one of the co-ordinators, says he would love the artist-run volunteer outlet to return to the arcade when it reopens.

Being “underground” suits the shop’s theme facilitating underground publications, and it’s a convenient spot for customers. “It’s very sad that it’s closing,” Mr Sinclair said. “Hopefully when it reopens, it’s as good as it always was. I’ve been there every week for 21 years, it’s a long time for me.”

Brian Hsieh, owner of Sublink computer and mobile phone repair, will leave Campbell Arcade after 15 years.

Mr Hsieh says business fell by 50 per cent due to the pandemic but loyal customers have helped it survive. He will move to a shop to be called Laptop Kings at 24 Gladstone Street in Southbank.

The Campbell Arcade renovations have been delayed for several years, but he was expecting them. “I feel sad but I also feel a bit relieved, because we can move forward.”

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