Heard Under The Sheds – 3/12/2017

Bad Weather 1. – there was some confusion amongst traders wondering why they received official warning SMS’s from management. The short answer is that modern technology now allows more immediate communication just like the State Governments SMS warnings to residents. And it is a fair point that experienced traders may know how to react during extreme weather events, but new traders and new staff should be fully informed.

Bad Weather 2. – some things don’t change and trying to predict how business is going to run in extreme conditions is difficult. Although there were many gaps in the trader aisles on Friday and Saturday, there were a few traders who did ok business. One said that those who attended in the extreme weather were obviously serious shoppers with less time-wasters. For the majority of traders however, results were poor and the absence of Christmas buying is clearly evident.

Bad Weather 3. - one trader could not remember the last time he took a day off because of weather but he decided to abide by the official warnings. He spent a miserable day wondering what might have been and has vowed he will never stay away again. (At least until he turns 65 and the Heat Policy kicks in.)

Day Market Versus Night Market – a trader has reported that the large digital sign in the car park facing Peel St. shows 4 seconds of Day Market promotion and 16 seconds of Night Market promotion. Two questions need to be asked here - is this another example that the day market is the poor cousin to the night market when it comes to marketing expenditure, and does this trader need to find a hobby? 

Fisticuffs Is A Bad Sign – amongst all the sophisticated measures of market performance we shouldn’t under-estimate the importance of fist fights as a measure of extreme tension and unusually bad business. Fortunately fights between traders are rare but the event between two traders down on Queen St. on Saturday morning was a bad look and a lesson for all that we need to value our relationships within the trader community particularly when times are tough.

It’s All In The Words – one of our traders suggests that we should simplify our trading hours advice to “The Day Market only closes Mondays and Wednesdays”. Simplifying is good and rather than a long winded explanation of individual trading times a catch phrase like that is easily remembered.

Iconic Departure – forget all the news about the multi’s like Oroton going under. What about Annette who operated Depilit for so many years in J Shed leaving our market? Sad, but true. We will miss your bubbling personality and entrepreneurial flair  Annette.

Box Hire Shake-up – we understand that one of our 5 box hire operators has been refused a license renewal. The reason is not clear although perhaps 5 operators are simply too many to support. We can expect some shuffling within the box hire business but hopefully no increase in hire rates.

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