Small businesses fear that Wagga's shopfronts and food festivals are being taken over by large franchises and food trucks from cities such as Sydney and Melbourne.
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One of them is Mock Orange head chef Scott Clapham, who said he feared local stallholders were steadily being replaced by trucks and vendors from out of town.
He used to be a stallholder at the Wagga Food and Wine Festival, but said the vendor fees were a deterrent for producers and small businesspeople such as himself.
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"They just kept hiking the price of the stalls. It doesn't seem logical to be there when you've got to pay 300-400 dollars for the set up. It's something I'd like to do for Mock Orange, but it's so expensive," Mr Clapham said.
"The Riverina producers market would be the one good one that actually supports local people and they make it easier to be down there. The Rewild market would be the same."
Wagga Food and Wine Festival chairman David Pyke said they always tried to get local stallholders on board whenever they could.
"We invite foodies to supply food for the festival, and almost all of those are locals," Mr Pyke said.
"We want to use local people for everything we do, and most of the money we make is given to local charities and local community service organisations."
Mingalar Asian grocer Phillip Kyaw set up his shop in 2012, and over the years had seen other local businesses close down and open up again as big name franchises.
Mr Kyaw said he would like to see Wagga City Council put in more restrictions to limit the number of franchises up and down the main street.
"My concern is that I see a lot of new business owners who open up a shop and then they bring their own staff, they're not employing people locally," Mr Kyaw said.
"Council needs to create an environment for the locals here, people looking for job. The employee should give favour to local first instead of employing people from far away.
"You need to support local and have some sort of rule to protect the town."
Red Pomegranate grocer Peter Lonsdale said small shops were the heart and soul of regional towns, and that they were in danger of being replaced by large corporations.
Mr Lonsdale said his fellow shopkeepers always made it a habit to donate their time and money for local causes.
"You'll find these other businesses that come to town aren't so community-minded. They can't be, in a way, because by the time the franchisee gets their little cut, the company take their bigger cut and there's no room to be generous in the community," Mr Lonsdale said.
"Small businesses are safe little environments, and that in itself is a priceless community asset."
Mayor Greg Conkey said council were doing their bit to revitalise the local business scene, which saw many long-standing shops close during lockdown.
Councillor Conkey said they were looking at brining in alfresco outdoor dining onto the main street in order to boost the struggling shops.
"We've been working very closely with our business organisations to see how we can assist them, especially last year with COVID," Cr Conkey said.
"We will assist wherever we can and whatever we can do, and we are working very closely with business organisations."
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