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Scott Willis, the owner of a fledgling Christchurch bar, is worried customers will have forgotten him by the time he gets around to re-opening.
Willis said clientele had grown steadily since the Christchurch Temperance Society bar opened just over a year ago but he was worried about what a six-week lock-out could mean for the business' long-term future.
"We're still building the business. It was getting better and better, we were making a mark on the scene in Christchurch.
"Now we worry if we can't trade for a month, six weeks or two months, that we'll start getting forgotten ... It will be thousands of dollars we will have lost in turnover.
"Once part of it is safe, we may be able to get some stock out. Then it's just assessing whether people are going to come into that part of the city because there are a lot of streets that aren't safe at the moment. If no one is in town there is no point in opening."
The bar in Tuam St is small, catering for a maximum of about 50 people and serves everything from top-shelf liquor and cocktails to wine and beer.
Willis had closed up just 50 minutes before the quake last Saturday morning. He said he had no idea how much damage lay inside the bar, which was fully stocked, because he had not been allowed into the building to assess the situation.
He said the council was concerned another earthquake or aftershock could cause the walls or the roof of the building to collapse.
"We've not had access to the bar at all. It's totally cordoned off. We've got two great red big stickers on the front of the building saying we can't go any further than the red type.
"The roof next door has collapsed into our roof. [The council] are concerned with all the aftershocks that it's going to come right through.
"Some of the retail stores can just relocate and start trading. But because of liquor licences we can't just pick up and go somewhere else."
