Music Week and its
impact on market activities have raised some interesting new theories about our
market.
The impact on String
Bean Alley has been particularly relevant. Re-directed traffic flow, and the
fact that SBA is at last fully populated by traders, has created foot traffic
that was only dreamed about in this aisle’s short history. It has now been
suggested that the retail entrances to SBA may have been its limiting factor.
The bottom end (Queen St.) has hardly had an inviting look about it - a coffee
shop on one side followed by empty storage sheds, and then empty spaces on the
other side.
A similar landscape at
the top end (Peel St.) simply didn’t identify SBA as a desirable retail
destination - another coffee shop followed by a container housing an ATM on one
side, and a vacant seating area followed by storage sheds on the other. Unlike
every other shed in the top end, SBA simply didn’t look like a retail
destination and so customers chose to find alternative avenues for browsing. Music
Week has changed that dynamic with a full aisle, a new “entrance” created by
the top walkway and the buzz of Music Week itself.
String Bean Alley had
its main car-park entrance in the middle of the aisle but it would appear that,
without the traditional “S” flow up and down the aisles, it was always going to
struggle.
And there are other
things we can learn from the changes forced by Music Week. The closure of J shed
at Peel St. has had a significant impact on the traders in that aisle. J shed
is a wide aisle and could be expected to carry a significant number of
customers but we may have under-estimated its role as a very significant
thoroughfare for customers moving from the top to the bottom of the market and
vice versa.
There have been winners
and losers in this temporary re-arrangement, and hopefully we will understand
more about the dynamics of our market as a result. Other changes like the
Thursday craft market in L shed may also provide us with valuable insights.