While
a war of words goes on about renewal, glowing customer reviews of our market
continue to surface. Here are some over the last few days on Trip Advisor.
“A box of 12 young
coconut is just $5. I shared with other buyer because I couldn't carry that much.
I spent $1 for a kg of nice potatoes. There are many restaurants in / near the
markets. You can get many interesting things that can't find in the department
store.”
“I spent hours in
this place, they have everything you could ever want from clothes to food &
all sort of goods, great place for shopping & eating, a must if you are in
Melbourne.”
“I walked around the
place on Wed afternoon. Only a few cafe remains open. A big empty car park
place. But on Fri morning onwards, the place was transformed to a bustling
place. I had hefty big breakfast with coffee at Le Crossiont, sat on the
Elizabeth street and watched people going about. Very nice.”
“You haven't been to
Melbourne if you haven't been here! Great place to eat, drink and shop classic
Australian and frequent shows and events. In the summer they have a night
market which you must go to with an empty stomach. Delicious food and an
overwhelming selection.”
“Having come from the
north of England I am rather fond of a good market, this one will not disappoint
you can pick up some great bargains and souvenirs. The food hall is also
interesting to visit.”
So
for many visitors, particularly tourists, the QVM is a wonderful place. What traders
need is for more customers to come and for those who have stopped coming to
find good reason to come back. That is going to require some significant
investment.
COMMENTS:
16/05/2016 17:27:02 Some Customers Hate our Market "Its great to hear all the good comments about the Market but I should also point out there is many bad ones as well!!!I Would like to know if someone from the Management could tell me what to say to all the customers that have asked me what has happened to the market.Why all the empty stalls and the market looks so bad to previous past visits.One customer commented to me that it looks like it has a bad cancer and is dying!!! I have to agree !!So sad to keep hearing comments like that from customers that will probably never come back again and also spread the word to their friends as well!!! "
Perhaps those customers don't hate our market but hate what is happening to it, and we can sympathise with that. It doesn't help much, but we are simply suffering the same problems that a multitude of retail centres across the globe are experiencing. Consumer preferences are changing for many complex reasons and adjusting to them (greater convenience, easier access, more services) is going to take time and resources. Luckily we have a renewal on our doorstep. I guess you tell your customers that we are in the process of adjusting to changing needs and we will respond in a very positive manner as we have always done. - Ed