A Website for All Traders at Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market.
Thursday, 29 September 2016
This Trader Has Special Skills
We should be grateful that trader, Jason, chose to establish his career at The Queen Vic Market. He could have been lost to a completely different occupation. Click on this link to see the whole story.
Have Your Say - click here.
Sunday, 25 September 2016
Latest Retail News – 25/9/2016
Latest Retail News – 25/9/2016
1. Existing Preston Market to be retained under $4m revamp.
2. JB HiFi shares soar after Good Guys purchase.
3. Rebel Sport, Myer, and Good Guys win top marketing awards.
4. Ex Pacific Brands (Bonds etc.) CEO joins Lord Mayor race in Melbourne.
5. Kathmandu posts huge jump in profit.
6. UK sports giant, JD Sport, takes an interest in Australian ath-leisure group.
7. Online giant, Alibaba, is now Asia’s richest company.
8. First stage of Chadstone’s latest $660m redevelopment opens next month.
9. New tax regulations will require overseas online retailers that have an Australian annual turnover above $75,000 to collect GST on all goods.
10. Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments lifts profit by 18%.
QVM In Miniature
Intrigued by this photo? It has an artistic connection. Here is the link - http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/melbourne-arts/queen-vic-market-gets-an-artistic-makeover-20160922-grlvg1.html
An Early Start To Thursday Trading
This Thursday 29th
September will feature a special event in the form of the Gold 104.3 radio
station Grand Final Breakfast at QVM. Traders may wish to modify their set-up
times to take advantage of the early
morning occasion.
The event is being promoted
on the radio station and QVM social media feeds in the lead up to the Grand
Final. 300 guests have been invited to join the breakfast at QVM from 6:00am to
9:00am. Radio presenters, Jo & Lehmo, will be joined by a
variety of special guests, including past and present players, Fox Footy
presenters and musical performers, as they cover off everything you need to
know for the AFL Grand Final!
We recommend traders schedule
their set-ups to be ready for any spin-off in business between 6 and 9am.
The Gold 104.3 Grand Final Breakfast is just part of the
QVM package to promote the market during this huge sporting event.
AFL Friday Public Holiday Is QVM's Day
The Friday before the AFL
Grand Final (Friday 3oth September) is a public holiday in Melbourne. Last year
was the first year this holiday took place and traders decided it might be a
good opportunity to make a feature of the occasion in our trading calendar.
Whilst market crowds on the
Grand Final day itself (Saturday 1st October) can suffer from the city’s focus
on a TV event, the Friday has the potential for good market crowds particularly
as fans congregate in the CBD for the team parade.
QVM has been promoting its
Feast of Footy over the month of September including
- Regular football clinics in A
shed.
- Queen Vic Big Kick.
- Bucking Footy.
- Grand Pie-nal Day.
Radio station Gold 104.3 will
be holding their Grand Final Breakfast at the market on the morning of Thursday
29th September (see separate article) and we can expect the impetus to flow
into the Friday Public Holiday and hopefully into Grand Final Day itself.
Traders are urged to enhance
the theatre of the occasion with their stall displays and contribute to making
the Grand Final, particularly the lead up including the Friday Public Holiday,
a successful and profitable part of our trading calendar.
TV Car Ad Uses QVM Setting
Trader, Tim Moore, seems to remember a Jaguar ad done at QVM some time ago. We haven't been able to find anything online but if you have any information we would love to hear from you.
In the meantime Nissan have used the QVM setting for their Qashqai TV ad which is currently running on Melbourne television. Here is a link to the ad. https://cdn.streamable.com/video/mp4-mobile/e15j.mp4
Just One Good Customer
There
is a theory amongst traders that on days
when customers are reluctant to buy and they are giving you a hard time, it is simply
because the good customers are absent. Bad customers are always part of the
buying population but they really stand out when the good customers for some
reason are missing.
But
it doesn't take a lot to change a trader's mindset and "Jeff" and his
family did that for me on Saturday. It had been a flat morning and good
customers seemed to be absent. "Jeff" turned up with his wife and two
daughters and we started a conversation. "Jeff" hadn't been to the
market for a number of years but he'd been caught up in the media discussion on
renewal and decided it was time he visited again (tick the box marked "Any
publicity is good publicity").
He
came in to buy food and was delighted with the quality and price particularly of
fruit and vegetables down in H&I shed (tick that box). He had devoted half
a day to his market trip so the family decided to wander the specialty stalls in
the top end and found a number of stalls that interested them (tick that box).
Oh, and he also spent $100 at my stall buying something he didn't think he
would find at his normal shopping venues (BIG tick - thanks Jeff).
Yes,
just one good customer helped swing our day, not just in his contribution to
sales but the tantalising prospect of what a rejuvenated market might hold. The important thing is that those customers like “Jeff” who come
back don’t get disappointed and there are many who think we still have some
work to do there.
COMMENTS:
26/09/2016 07:31:41 Just One Good Customer "Doesn't this article say something about the lack of advertising and promotion of the market when ""Jeff"" and his family only came to the market because they had heard about it in the media otherwise it was not something he thought about even though he knew of the existence of the market.
Why do retailers like Myer, David Jones, Harvey Norman, JB HiFi et al advertise all the time even though they are well known stores? So they are always in peoples thoughts when they think of shopping and thats what the Queen Vic should be. We are not just a food market we encompass a whole range of products people need to buy, we are nearly a ""one stop shop"" venue. For example with the spring racing carnival coming up a woman could buy everything she needed for a great day out starting with the latest fashions in dresses, shoes and hats then for the picnic basket the best bread and cakes, cheeses, fruit a even the wine can be bought at ""The Vic"" all at a reasonable price why isn't that promoted right now? or don't we have a marketing person anymore since Sylvia Goldstein was put off so many years ago. Does anyone else agree with my thoughts? " Frank
26/09/2016 07:31:41 Just One Good Customer "Doesn't this article say something about the lack of advertising and promotion of the market when ""Jeff"" and his family only came to the market because they had heard about it in the media otherwise it was not something he thought about even though he knew of the existence of the market.
Why do retailers like Myer, David Jones, Harvey Norman, JB HiFi et al advertise all the time even though they are well known stores? So they are always in peoples thoughts when they think of shopping and thats what the Queen Vic should be. We are not just a food market we encompass a whole range of products people need to buy, we are nearly a ""one stop shop"" venue. For example with the spring racing carnival coming up a woman could buy everything she needed for a great day out starting with the latest fashions in dresses, shoes and hats then for the picnic basket the best bread and cakes, cheeses, fruit a even the wine can be bought at ""The Vic"" all at a reasonable price why isn't that promoted right now? or don't we have a marketing person anymore since Sylvia Goldstein was put off so many years ago. Does anyone else agree with my thoughts? " Frank
Rob Adams Adds An Important Ingredient To Renewal Debate
The
Rob Adams interview in this week's CBD News raises a perspective that can go
missing in any debate centred on our market.
Any
worthwhile debate, and there is no argument that "the most important
public space in the whole of Melbourne" is worthwhile, needs scrutiny at
all levels. A myopic view of QVM does no favours to anyone and interviewer,
Shane Scanlan's, reference to a "helicopter view" makes a lot of
sense.
It
is easy for traders to take a parochial stance on renewal (we have been guilty
of it on these pages) but a citywide view and a look at our market precinct’s
role in the fabric of Melbourne, and the State, and indeed Australia, raises a whole
new perspective. The article is certainly worth a read. - "Vic Market Development Is Not Just About The Market".
Rob Adams (born 1948[1]) is an architect and urban designer, Director of City Design at the City of Melbourne, Australia. He won multiple awards as the leader of the revitalization of the Melbourne City Centre and surrounds, helping to create a vibrant city streetscape with innovative design features.
The Supermarket Argument Doesn't Stand Up.
It's
a great one-liner - "They are going to turn QVM into a supermarket",
but what does that really mean, and isn't it more correct to say that
supermarkets are trying to turn themselves into markets like QVM?
Here's
how Wikipedia describes a supermarket - "A supermarket, a large form of
the traditional grocery store, is a self-service shop offering a wide variety
of food and household products, organised into aisles. It is larger and has a
wider selection than a traditional grocery store ......."
So,
in many respects (scale and variety) QVM is a supermarket. Where we fall short
is in categories like canned goods, and household supplies. Also, we adhere to
shop service rather than self service in most of our food categories, perhaps
with the exception of fruit & vegetables. But when it comes to fresh food
variety, scale, and knowledge, we are at the top.
Supermarkets
have spent a lot of money trying to look like us as the photo shows. In most
supermarket fruit and vegetable departments you simply add a friendly face
behind each counter, lower the prices, and you have a remarkably similar copy
of QVM. Who is copying who?
Opponents
to QVM renewal plans list the provision of cool stores as "supermarket
like" but aren't cool rooms just giving our traders more flexibility and
less likelihood of wastage (and therefore lower prices). Supermarkets also have
running water and electricity so maybe we should think twice about providing
those facilities in the renewal. (Sorry, that was a cheap shot.)
QVM
is a super market. We have nothing to apologise for and as long as we maintain
those ingredients of personal service, quality, low prices, and freshness, we
will stay true to our uniqueness. If renewal can make it easier to excel in
those areas, then bring it on.
What Is More likely To Save Traders?
A trader asked a question
this week – “What is more likely to save traders – a move to a union based
support system that protects every trader good or bad, relevant or irrelevant, active
or passive – or the traditional independence of entrepreneurship that rewards
excellence, fosters true competition, and encourages innovation in a swiftly
changing retail environment? Which is more likely to drag customers to our
market?”
Traders Should Add “Entertainer” To Their CV’s
Customers
are wonderful. They are our lifeblood and we dwell on their every action in
anticipation of the holy grail - a sale. But along the way, customers can do
things that mildly irritate us, and traders are often drawn to say "If I
could have a dollar for every time that happened, I would be rich." Usually they are talking about free entertainment.
My
neighbours and I were discussing that very point yesterday and we each had
examples of irritating customer actions. I sell yachting caps at the front of
my stall and many times a day customers will remove a cap from its packaging,
adjust the band, try it on, take a photo of themselves, and then put back the
cap (sometimes in its packaging), and walk off. Annoying, right? My neighbour
on Saturday was selling those colourful water beads which he displays in big glass
bowls. Customers constantly dip their hands in the bowls, and then flick
off the moisture (and the odd bead) before moving off. Another neighbour was
selling laser pointers and I lost count of the number of times customers picked
up a pointer to shine it to the ceiling or in their friends faces.
These
are all aspects of the free entertainment we traders provide our customers and
yes, it would be nice to convert each of those actions into a dollar. But each
of my neighbours understood that it is the free entertainment bit that is
important. Customers do enjoy those activities. They come to our market so they
can photograph themselves wearing yachting caps, dip their hands in colourful water beads, shine lasers, and
perform a multitude of other activities as part of their shopping adventure.
When we stop entertaining them we might as well pack up shop and those single
dollars will be totally irrelevant.
I
often tell my friends that traders are truly multi-talented business people. We
are designers (stall layouts), engineers (stall set-ups), merchandisers, sales
people, accountants, negotiators, and now I am going to add another important
quality - entertainers. Each of us has the potential to entertain 30,000 people
on a good trading day. Bruce Springsteen, eat your heart out.
Thursday, 22 September 2016
QVM In The News - 22/9/2016
| NEWS | ||
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Queen Vic Market gets an artistic makeover
Put aside the politics of its redevelopment for a moment and take a good look at the Queen Victoria Market: what does it mean to you? What does it say ...
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Mayoral flyers removed in Queen Victoria Market row, Robert Doyle draws top spot in ballot draw
DOZENS of posters promoting Save Queen Victoria Market mayoral candidate Phil Cleary have been taken down from the market site, angering ...
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Sharing the Chinese culture
Mooncakes were not the only star at the Mooncake Festival that took place at Queen Victoria Market on September 11. Lion dance, kung-fu ...
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Sunday, 18 September 2016
Latest Retail News – 18/9/2016
Latest Retail News – 18/9/2016
1. Myer says it is ready for UK department store, Debenhams, to challenge Australian market.
2. Shopping centres to focus on fresh food offer and cafes as competition for tenants heats up.
3. Ebay launches special facility to sell old iPhones following iPhone 7 release.
4. Myer doubles profit to $60.5m after raising sales revenue by 3%.
5. Retail sales up a little in July.
6. JB HiFi purchases Good Guys for $870m and becomes Australia’s biggest home appliance retailer.
7. Crust pizza chain launches alcohol delivery.
8. Ikea opens London restaurant where diners assemble food (no, this is not a joke.)
9. Waitrose opens first cashless supermarket in London.
10. Sensis says men outspend women online.
Heard Under The Sheds – 18/9/2016
Fishmongers Grill Malcolm McCullough – Thursday’s meet the CEO session at the Engagement Hub on Queen St. included 8 or 9 Fishmongers concerned about future plans for their hall particularly the possibility of processing facilities under H & I Sheds. The discussion was described as robust and open with many aspects of the fish hall operation being covered.
As we have noted before, these Thursday afternoon sessions are a great way for traders and management to highlight and discuss important market matters in an informal environment.
Table Covers – Just a note that our resident material stall has stock of materials suitable for stall table covers. Just talk to Lana at J shed 41 on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Information on fitted cloths and logo printing are available from the office.
September Can Be Tough – one of our specialty merchandise traders recalls that February and September are his two worst months of the year.
Sprinter Steve – an award should go to T-shirt Trader Steve for sprinting after a thief down K Shed on Saturday and retrieving a wallet stolen from his neighbour’s display.
What Some People Don’t Understand About QVM
I read an article in the
Herald Sun this week that typified much of the anti-renewal debate and like
many similar arguments missed a point that most traders get.
The article was written by an
academic and there were some wonderful word pictures – stories of the old days
and the emotion of a true community market, the banter, the social exchanges –
all things which, as a 35 year plus trader I recognise and embrace. The author
talked about the market rejecting the conformity of supermarket chains and
reminding us that life is about choices. All those things are true but that is
not why the Queen Victoria Market is here.
The Queen Victoria Market
comprises a group of individual traders who operate a particular business model.
That business model is based on meeting the needs of a population, hopefully
the vast majority of that population, because volume is important to how we do
business. We are expected to meet those needs in regard to quality, price, and freshness
(in the case of food). But our business model is suffering and you only need to
look at the empty stalls for evidence of that. Our model has been compromised.
It has been disrupted by many things including a communication revolution, and
a whole lot of new choices for consumers. There is online ordering, a multi-year
supermarket war that has disrupted traditional concepts of food buying, and an
over-emphasis on convenience in the lives of consumers that impacts on how
retailers do business.
We market traders are here to
do business. All those other things, the emotion, the personal exchanges are
by-products of doing our job really well. They are not why we are here. We need
to focus on what got us here a century and a half ago – being relevant to the
needs of the population and excelling at what we do. When we get that focus
back and embrace the gift of a market re-investment (renewal is just about
making up for lost investment over the last 30 or so years), then we can achieve
great things.
Being really good at meeting
the contemporary needs of consumers is the most important lesson from our past.
By Greg Smith
QVM In The News - 18/9/2016
| NEWS | |
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Queen Victoria Market is authentic heart of Melbourne, says Christopher Bantick
MELBOURNE is a city of markets. The Queen Victoria Market, or the”Vic” as it is known, was where my uncle brought his vegetables. He would bring ...
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| NEWS | |
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Move for voter poll on Queen Victoria Market revamp
“The City of Melbourne and the State Government have signed an agreement regarding the renewal of the Queen Victoria Market.” In a letter from their ...
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Retail Webinars & Workshops
Traders can click on this link - Retail Training & Development - to get access to some webinars and workshops including the following -
Social Media and Marketing
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Build a step-by-step plan to create a social media campaign focussed on the customer's needs.
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Financial Fundamentals & Product Performance
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This workshop provides the guiderails to financial control through understanding sales, profit and cash flow.
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{WEBINAR} Augmented Reality - beyond the hype
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Learn the applications of Augmented Reality for retail, and practical steps for cost-effective implementation.
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Reinventing the brick-and-mortar store
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Learn how retailers can maximise the customer experience in-store to increase conversion rates and drive online sales.
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Tuesday, 13 September 2016
QVM In The News
NEWS | |
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Susie O'Brien on Queen Victoria Market needing a facelift
The
Grand Old Dame is definitely in need of a makeover. I had a good look
around last week, and found much of it distinctly underwhelming.
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Sunday, 11 September 2016
Latest Retail News - 11/9/2016
1. Surfstitch records $155m loss.
2. Online homewares retailer, Temple & Webster, reports $44.9m loss. Looks for break-even 2018.
3. Woolworths in legal battle with partner Lowes over sale of Masters.
4. Retail spending unchanged in July.
5. Lush triples size of Sydney flagship store.
6. Woolworths replaces directors on Masters Board.
7. Uniqlo to double its floor space at Chadstone.
8. UK department store, Debenhams, to open in Collins St. Melbourne 2017.
9. Supermarkets accused of reducing choice as ranges go in cost-cutting measures.
Free Promotion Opportunity With City of Melbourne
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The Richest Man In The World Is A Retailer
For a few
days this week Bill Gates was no longer the richest man in the world. That
title belonged to Amancio Ortega, the founder of Zara. The fluctuating fortunes
of the share market meant that Gates has since regained the number one position
but it is obviously an ongoing battle.
But back
to the point - a retailer became the richest man in the world, and this man
started as a store clerk who opened his first Zara store in 1975. Ortega holds
shares in Inditex, the parent company to Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear and
other brands. According to Forbes he earns a massive $900m per year in dividends.
I have
often questioned my role as a retailer, particularly in recent years, but now
there are no excuses. The world is my oyster, and I can attain great wealth. Mr. Ortega shows it can be done.
The Scientific Solution To QVM Renewal
Like
warring factions the pro renewal and no renewal camps are creating an
uncomfortable environment that is making it difficult to reach a solution. Both
sides want the same thing, a better market, but the current process of
politics, propaganda and 5 minute experts seems a crazy waste of time, effort
and money. We need some science.
One
of our long term traders (45 years with the market) disagrees with both
extremes (pro and no) and says we are focussing on the wrong things. The no
renewal camp are ignoring the realities of a struggling market. The pro renewal
camp are mesmerised by $250m which, if spent in the wrong way, will fix very
little. There is a middle road that is more likely to bring results.
Essentially
he is saying get back to retail basics, and makes the point that retailing is a
science not for amateurs. A full examination of his proposal is beyond this
article but here are the main points -
1. Acknowledge
that we have a market/patient in need of revival.
2. Identify
the core reasons for the patient dying within a framework of historical known
customer drivers - price, choice, convenience.
3. Work on
each of those core reasons and correct them using modern retailing expertise
where appropriate.
4. When the
patient is on the road to recovery (but not before), adopt modern marketing and
advertising practices to encourage, develop and grow.
Retailing
is a science with known behaviours and known solutions. Tweak it a bit for a
public market (just a bit), add in some modern methods of communication, and
you have a framework for gradual correction of what ails us.
This sounds like a debate worth having.
How Much Food Is Enough
There
is considerable debate over just how much ready to eat food should be available
at a market like QVM. How do we get the mix right so that our market meets
modern consumer expectations whilst
ensuring that the category is not over supplied and therefore jeopardising the
profitability of current food operators? One thing seems clear -
"food is the new shopping."
There
is little doubt that food is critical to retail success. With the growth of
online shopping, an essential point of difference for bricks'n'mortar
destinations is food. And if you get the food attraction right, not only do you
get more customers, but they stay longer and spend more. That is great for
every retailer. Recent studies show that customers who eat during a shopping
centre trip spend on average 27 minutes longer across the shopping centre and
spend 18% more in overall
transactions.(marketing data from Coniq).
The
space devoted to ready to eat food has grown significantly. According to
international retail services company JLL, floor space devoted to food and beverage has doubled in the last
ten years from 7% to 15%, and is expected to rise to 20% in the next ten years.
Consumers are obviously demanding greater choice in ready to eat food. Shopping
centres that used to rely on a single food court to meet their customers needs
now have multiple food options throughout their centres. We are not a shopping
centre but we do serve very similar clientele and the food options of old
simply don't meet modern expectations. Gaining the double whammy of more
customers who stay longer is a very desirable target.
Obviously
you don't want to over populate the category and this is the point of concerns
expressed in a Herald Sun article this week. In an article about the CoM's new
food truck policy, Trader Representative Jenny Pyke was quoted as saying
"It’s definitely unfair that they’re (food trucks) being put in at a lower
rent rate than those already at the market”. Council plans involve placing food trucks around the city including on Peel St. adjacent to the market. The point was made in the article
that the introduction of more food outlets could jeopardise the livelihoods of
current food traders. Cr. Robert Doyle was quoted in a discussion on 3AW
"We think these spots will work, in talking to the various traders, but
obviously, depending on the footfall, that’s what makes it, or breaks it, and
we want to put them where there are people going past".
Getting
the ready to eat food mix right at QVM is critical to our development. This is
not just about protecting current food traders or whacking in lots of new food.
If we get this right, we will all benefit because more customers will come to
our market. Once again we are testing the entrepreneurial appetite for traders
to adapt to retail change and testing Malcolm McCullough's team's ability to get it right. It would be unfortunate if the CoM were acting independently and harming the process.
Spreading The News
A comment posted on Victraders this week complained that
more outside media articles were appearing on this trader's website.
We are publishing links to more outside media content but
it is a deliberate attempt to better inform traders. Much is going on in the
media about QVM at present and it is virtually impossible for every trader to
keep track of them all. Some are printed in newspapers, some are online, and
some are restricted to social media. At Victraders we get access to most of
them so we decided to share on our pages.
If they seem to be clogging up the system we will stop
publishing outside links but in the meantime we hope you enjoy being fully
informed. Let us know what you think.
Ed.
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