It comes after the main street’s business curse took another drastic turn this week.

Fashion outlets CC Best and Risky Business called it quits in quick succession while Bendon Lingerie has also begun advertising a closing down sale, to the surprise of passing shoppers.

Wagga resident Margaret Hinch was stunned to see one of her favourite retailers with a ‘Closed’ sign in the shop window on Wednesday.

“I used to go to CC Best quite a bit and I’d had a dress put aside for me ready to go,” she said.

“I can barely believe they’ve gone - just like that.”

A quick walk along Baylis Street speaks volumes; there are currently 15 empty shopfronts along Baylis Street with a further four empty spaces in Wagga’s various arcades.

That’s not to mention the three level one business spaces currently up for lease. 

“I’ve never seen it look like this, it’s terrible,” Ms Hinch conceded.

CC Best, Risky Business and Bendon Lingerie have since been added to the growing list of business casualties in 2018.

It’s not exclusively fashion retailers as the recent closures of Pastacup and Carv’n It Up can attest to, but Bendon Lingerie manager Robin Brill could only offer a wry smile when queried about the current business climate.

“It’s just a sign of the times,” she said.

“Our Albury store closed about 12 months ago and now we’re shutting up shop too, just like that.”

Ms Brill bemoaned a lack of available parking along the main street as a key factor in diminished foot traffic and suggested council act fast to protect business outside Wagga’s main shopping malls.

“It’s a shame we’re closing down because our business was brilliant for Wagga and visitors used to pop in all the time,” she said.

“The problem was that no-one in Wagga knew we were here.

“I honestly think that if council just allowed people to park nose-to-kerb along Baylis Street, that would encourage shoppers to purchase outside the malls.”

Responding to Ms Brill’s suggestion, council city strategy manager Tristan Kell said Australian regulations would not allow for nose-to-kerb parking in this instance. 

“There is currently angle parking on sections of Baylis Street and the other sections of the street are not wide enough to allow this type of parking under Australian standards,” he said.

Mr Kell cited council’s Wagga Wagga Integrated Transport Strategy as evidence steps are being taken towards increasing parking facilities and improving public amenity.

“Council’s focus is … to ensure there is a high turnover of vehicles, reduce the amount of service vehicles and transit vehicles on Baylis Street (and) ensure there are enough parking spaces for people with mobility issues,” he said.

Council staff also identified a need to increase parking areas a short distance from the main street  to “encourage shoppers to walk past more stores as opposed to only visiting one store”.