Bumper Start
To Winter Night Market – apologies for going over the top with the size of our
heading but good news is so rare in retailing these days that we want to shout this
from the rooftops. Apparently over 30,000 consumers attended the first Wednesday
night of the new season and every trader that we spoke to, said business was
brisk. We expect that with food, but when it translates to Specialty
Merchandise as well, that is great.
State Of
Origin A Fizzer? The combination of a Rugby League State of Origin football
match on Wednesday night in Melbourne and the long weekend would normally be
expected to create a significant sales boost in the Upper Market but few
traders are seeing a blip in their sales. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday sales
were generally ho-hum. Let’s hope for a Saturday, Sunday recovery.
State of
Customer Buying – one of our sock sellers thinks he may have had a customer
experience that sums up consumer thinking right now. He had a NZ customer over
for the Wednesday night Rugby match with his mates who wanted to but a gift to
take home to his wife as appreciation for letting him take a mates trip to Oz.
The gift? – one pair of socks. Let’s hope she is easily satisfied.
Trader’s
Social Hub – one of our traders is wondering if the idea for a central meeting
place where traders could meet and engage with mentors has been shelved.
Apparently it was proposed for an offsite location which was always going to
create a problem for stall-bound traders. The trader attendance at the
mentoring session in the Food Court a couple of weeks ago was poor (one report
said only 6 traders turned up). Traders love the idea of socialising together,
but maybe when you come down to it, we have other things to do including family
and business responsibilities.
Time Poor
Small Businesses – on a similar theme we had a couple of Night Market Traders explaining
the impact on their sleeping and work practices. Getting home around midnight
on Wednesday, sometimes replacing stock, then getting up early the next morning
for Thursday trading can stretch physical and mental resources to the limit. Of
course, a good night’s trading is great compensation.
Damaging Our Brand - a trader asks if we shouldn't make more effort to fill empty stall spaces. Customers notice these things.
Traders
Behaving Badly – We were sent this photo of a display that transgresses stall
boundaries and whilst the temptation to “enhance” individual displays is
evident around the market, this one takes place at the first stall in the aisle
so little advantage can be gained. It does however block a major aisle entrance
in F Shed where line of sight is important.
The second photo is of a storage box sitting in the middle of the K
shed aisle at 9:15 on a Saturday morning with a considerable crowd already
trying to move through the aisle. The stall is a long way from being set up
whilst all the neighbours are ready for business.
A couple of traders have suggested
that these are the types of circumstances that need rule enforcement. What do
you think?
Expand The
Night Market – okay, it is early days, but the positive start to the Winter
Night Market has traders asking why we can’t extend the market past F Shed and
take in the open spaces in E, D, and C. It has been suggested that sales hungry
traders would queue up immediately to pay for night stalls and if that helps
the bottom line for both traders and the market, it certainly seems worthy of
consideration.
More Focused Communication - traders may have noticed that management emails have become more common and now we are receiving SMS's giving a heads up on specific market matters. As one trader said - "If it means I don't miss important notifications, that is good."
More Focused Communication - traders may have noticed that management emails have become more common and now we are receiving SMS's giving a heads up on specific market matters. As one trader said - "If it means I don't miss important notifications, that is good."
COMMENTS:
Thanks for your comment. Agree, should be easy to fix - Ed.
11/06/2018 08:52:40 Stallholders behaving badly (Pic 1) "Hopefully can be fixed by Sunday,
sadly was not resolved yesterday ,
3 meters from the F1 office,
A danger to pedestrians etc,
Has been reported at least twice,
Ought to have easily resolved ,
Let’s all enjoy equally what the QVM offers to
all" Befuddled Thanks for your comment. Agree, should be easy to fix - Ed.