Ideas for a Bridge Street brew

Beth and Nick Schryvers are the co-owners of Victus Café, which was named Outstanding Café in the recent Nelson hospitality awards, with Nick also taking out the Outstanding Barista award. They both worked in the specialty coffee industry before opening Victus in June 2022.

The location of their first business venture together was key.

“It was really important to us that the heart of the café was based around the concept of building community and bringing people together.”

With the Bridge Street Collective co-working space accessible through the café, and Kirby Lane and its various pop-up events right next door, the Schryvers’ found the perfect spot with Victus, formerly The Kitchen.

“Nelson is a city that is based around lifestyle, community and bringing people together,” Nick says.

“We absolutely love it when events like the arts festival and Te Ramaroa  bring people into the city. When events are happening in the city, Nelson has this light that comes out of it and people sparkle.”

Nick observes that it’s not just one-off events that attract people into the city but Nelson’s clever use of space.

"The Nelson Market is a great example of using space flexibly. It’s existing infrastructure, car-parking, that at its core is really boring. But every Saturday, Montgomery Square comes alive and people from all over the world visit this little market. It's just buzzing with people that otherwise wouldn't be right there in the heart of town.”

Nick acknowledges that there are some neglected buildings and empty shops in the Bridge Street area, but he’s also seeing the energy that other small businesses are bringing to the precinct.

“One of the things I love about this part of town now is places like Kirby Lane, the Bridge Street Studio in the old Molly’s building, and businesses like Little Beehive. I think all of these ideas and businesses are slowly chipping away at the old view of this part of town. Getting people in that have a vision to bring something beautiful and creative is key. When there's variety, and when young or startup entrepreneurs get a chance to have a go, it creates a little bit more life,” Nick says.

He champions the role that small businesses play in bringing people into the city.

“How we shop has changed, including more online shopping, and I think sometimes there’s a perception that everyone's a big box store, but the reality is there's a lot of families that are supported from little businesses running on the little streets of Nelson.”

“There are beautiful boutique shops and some amazing small retailers selling niche products, like MD Outdoors. They’ve got a great selection of high-end outdoor equipment and specialised rock-climbing gear. They’ve also picked up on disc golf as a growing trend, and stock gear for that too. I think we should be encouraging these smaller specialist local retailers. We have the space in the city, and we've got to find a good way to use it and support our local businesses.”

Beth and Nick are not only business owners, but parents of small children as well. As parents, safe places in town where they can spend time as a family are important.

“I think everything becomes a bit harder with little kids, even a small trip to town. When we come into town with the kids we find a park somewhere, and then we walk to Penguino’s for an ice cream or walk to Burger Culture, where we can catch-up with friends and the kids can play. At the stage our children are, we're not stopping and doing a lot of the retail shopping as much as we would before we had kids,” Nick says.

Nick reflects on the pedestrianising of the top of Trafalgar Street. 
 
“It is a really interesting case study for closing the streets off. There was some pushback against it, even from some of the businesses up there. If I was up that top of town, you know, I would've been concerned about it too. But a couple of years on its exactly the type of area that I go when I'm in town with the kids because it's safe. There's no cars around and there's a lot of area that the kids can roam free.”

Other things parents with young children appreciate are family-friendly toilets, and safe places to stop, rest and chat, Nick reckons.

“I know that there are plans for a big destination playground, but I’d love to see a series of smaller, safe play spaces for kids dotted through town.

“I think when cities are more fun to be in, when cities are a nicer space to be in outside of your car, people are more drawn to them. I know that there's a big debate over whether people can drive in and park right outside your door. That's what I grew up with. That was the old Nelson. I think that attitude does need to move. I know it’s not the solution for everyone, but we've got awesome public transport coming in, which is fantastic. If we want people biking and walking around town, we've got to make it easier for people to bike and walk into town, so making bike infrastructure better is really key,” he says.

He's been impressed with cycling culture in European cities. “You go to places like the Netherlands, and I know that's a different environment, but a lot of these cities weren't always bike-friendly cities. And it’s not just people who are interested in the environment or who are into fitness that bike, its everyone - it's just easier to get on your bike and get into town.”

Nick acknowledges that loss of car-parking is an aspect that’s always vigorously debated when there is talk of change in the inner city. But for him, it comes down to taking a different perspective.

“As a business owner, of course I’m concerned about where people park. For us, if we did lose all the car parks in front of the cafe, we would lose a large portion of takeaway business, which is huge. But it’s about smart allocation of parking. We don't need two-hour parking for the takeaway business, we need 15- or 30-minute parking.  So, you could put some 15- or 30-minute car parks in strategic spots.”

“Then I've got staff who can't park in town for the day, not because there's no parking, but because all the parking's so limited on time. We've got businesses up here at the other end of the street that are only open at night. They don't need day parking, so let’s put long-term parking there.”

“We would much rather see a fresh city that people enjoy being in, that has options for living in, working in, visiting and traveling to, than worry about losing a few carparks, if the upside is that you can make the city more livable,” he says.

Nick also has a good idea for keeping businesses ticking over during the upgrade.

“We've got these great lanes that we've just celebrated in our own Little Lane festival. If these lanes are tidied up and made more pedestrian friendly, and with good signage so people know that they can get through these lanes to come to Bridge Street, all of those kinds of things would help.”

“I think cities need change and that includes Nelson. The world has changed, and how we are living are changing. I know these sorts of changes do take time and can be disruptive, but I think if you can make the city nice to live and nice to work in, then people will spend time in it.

“Nelson already has a stunning environment and art everywhere. We can build on that by encouraging beautiful architecture, interesting retail, a strong hospitality scene and cool green spaces. You'll find that tourists come because they go, you know what, actually, even though it's Sunday afternoon, it's still lovely to walk around town. The shops might be closed, but there's a bar open and there's nice things to see. That would be our vision for what Bridge Street could become, something that encourages people to come in and enjoy the city. If we can make Nelson a city that's easier to get around, nicer and greener, that’s a good place to start.”