A trader has
asked with all this talk about trading hours has anyone thought about trader
parking? If a precinct commences trade later than another, do they miss out on
parking vouchers? A minor point but with rising costs and diminishing returns, every
expense is relevant.
A customer
asked one of our traders why we don’t have seating under the sheds? Seating is
available in food areas, and on the periphery of the market, but what if you
want a rest break walking our aisles?
A good news
story – Security Guard, Charlie, found a credit card and ID for a Chilean
student while he was doing his morning rounds on Saturday. They were left at an
ATM in String Bean Alley. Charlie showed the ID to a couple of neighbouring
traders in case the student returned. Sure enough, a young man was noticed
about half an hour later sitting despondently near the ATM with his mobile
phone in hand. He was asked if he needed any help but he declined saying everything
was OK. A trader persisted and asked if he had lost a credit card and ID. He
said “Yes”, and that he was just about to cancel his credit card. A delighted
visitor to our market was directed to F1 where Charlie had left the cards. We
think QVM will be in this young man’s good books for some time.
Tony
Abdelnour retired from trading in leather belts at our market some 5 years ago.
He misses the buzz of market trading and the enjoyment of running his own
business, but he was delighted to see that his image still adorns the market
frontage to the customer carpark. See photo.
A trader
returned from an extended overseas holiday this week with destinations from NZ
to Dubai. She made a practise of asking shopkeepers about business and says
that the response was consistent around the world. When she identified herself
as a retailer every shopkeeper confirmed that business was very, very tough.
Apologies
for repeating this news, but once again traders are asking when are we going to
curate our market and remove the blank spaces? We can confirm that consolidation is receiving active attention from management.
And one of
our casual traders is complaining about blank spaces but for different reasons.
He says the over-supply of great trading places, especially corners, is making
it too hard to choose his spot for the day. It is doing his head in.
A customer
commented that he and his wife had walked up from Flinders Street station late
Saturday morning and thought the city was very quiet until they reached QVM and
the buzz started. In his opinion we had a significantly larger crowd than the
rest of the city.
The news of bollards
being used to close aisles from 8:00am in the Upper Market each day appears to
have been greeted with a nod and acceptance that this is good for safety and
security. Any other views out there?