This comes as more than a dozen businesses have closed down this year with the most recent being Crossroads in Sturt Mall.

Tony Carlin, owner of With Pizzazz Fashion Accessories, said he was “not likely hire extra staff”.

“Turnover is quite poor and we don’t anticipate a major upsurge at Christmas time,” Mr Carlin said.

“I’ve been a retailer in Wagga since 1983 and in the past we would always hire additional staff for Christmas, but in the past two years it hasn’t been necessary.”

Asked about the factors contributing to his outlook, Mr Carlin said “multiple factors are at work here”.

“The often trodden one is the Internet – there’s an element of that,” he said.

“Other reasons include the lack of parking and just the general malaise in retailing – there’s not a lot of buzz around town.”

The conservative outlook aligns with the September NSW Business Chamber quarterly survey of business conditions.

In the Riverina, the report found that staffing levels remained neutral in quarter three and is expected to remain the same until the new year.

The index point for the September quarter was 13.9 but that is expected to rise only 0.4 by December’s end.

The report also found that there was an overall revenue drop between quarter two and three.

The report found that the tougher trading conditions were a flow-on effect from the 85 per cent of Riverina businesses who reported being impacted by the drought in August 2018.

In the food industry, Noodle Paradise owner Ricky Cheung said “it has been very quiet lately in the city centre”.

“Unless you do functions during Christmas, you won’t need extra staff,” Mr Cheung said.

Mr Cheung has lived in Wagga for 20 years and have run the store for six years and said “there are too many options with a lot more restaurants now”.

“Labour costs during holiday season is also a factor.”

However, businesses more directly associated with gift giving have a different outlook.

Kate Little, manager of Collins Booksellers Wagga, said they have already hired additional staff leading into Christmas.

“We usually hire more casuals during the period as we’ll also be having a pop-up store at Sturt Mall,” Ms Little said.

“It’s always been the case as it gets so crazy – books are huge as presents.

“Traffic here has generally been steady and there’s hardly a quiet moment.”

On a different note, The Red Pomegranate is set to call on more family help.

Owner Peter Lonsdale said “we’re busy enough to have more people but they’re usually family members”.

Asked about the trading conditions in central and business closure, Mr Lonsdale said “I don’t think we’re seeing anything new”.

“I remember a period where it was worse but obviously it’d be great to fill empty shop fronts,” he said.

“People need to be able to meander through the main shopping centres to smaller shops around central.

“If Wagga wants to generate more retail interest and to generate more jobs, people need to be able to flow and explore.”

NSW Business conditions: September 2018

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