The Lighter Note

Cuppa costs

THERE was a time when ‘Melbourne prices’ meant things were expensive.

Those days are long gone. As the average Perth inhabitant’s spending power outstripped anything corresponding to reason so, too, did prices of many of the consumables we so dearly love.

A cup of coffee is one thing that simply can’t be bought on the internet, not if you need that fix immediately, so prices went to the micro-payment stratosphere – with most cuppas setting you back $4 no matter what the quality.

The Note was taken by this footpath pitch by an establishment in the Wesley Quarter in Perth’s CBD, which presumably highlights its prices are cheaper than local rivals. 

The big worry is whether this trend will continue. The day cheap coffee is advertised at New York prices is when we know the world has truly turned upside down.

Ship shape

WE’VE made a big effort to cover local mergers and acquisitions activity but our eye was off the ball when we heard Queensland-based pleasure craft manufacturer Riviera had been rescued from administration by property developer Rodney Longhurst.

That move, we gather, was more than just important to 500 local owners of the popular boating label.

It seems the rescue of Riviera also involved a bit of local M&A action, with a Longhurst-controlled company also taking over a 95 per cent holding in the local dealership R Marine Perth. Principal dealer Brendon Grieve said his ownership had stayed at 5 per cent, having decided not to exercise the option to buy it out in deference to the new owner’s wishes.

Mr Grieve and the original Riviera owners ended up in partnership together in 2006 when the boat builder backed a management buyout of the WA dealership.