Sunday 5 February 2017

Heard Under The Sheds – 5/2/2017


Rodent Control – the Herald-Sun article in Saturday’s paper drew an angry response from traders in many areas of the market particularly after it was discovered that the full story had not been told. See seperate article for details.

Oops – Whose watching the weather watchers? – a small number of weather measuring stations have been placed under the sheds as the market gathers information that may assist with renewal plans and climate control. Measuring temperature and humidity will go a long way to assessing customer and trader comfort and health needs. Unfortunately the weather station in K Shed is plugged in to a communal electricity power point and is often switched off during trading hours. We understand it has not recorded data.
Let’s hope whoever is responsible for its operation gets it back on stream and contributing useful data for this important aspect of market trading.

Plugging The Holes – February can be a quiet trading month with a number of traders taking leave and creating unsightly gaps in the aisles. Some traders are well prepared for spreading and fill the gaps nicely while others make a half-hearted attempt at a larger display and don’t really improve the look of the market. A number of traders are talking about a more professional attempt at “curating” the market while others are concerned at the impact that “curating” may have on valued stall positions.  More discussion needed.

Second Guessing Trading Conditions – in the previous item we noted that February can be a quiet trading month and yet we should never underestimate the ability of retailing to surprise us. A number of traders are reporting good sales from customers visiting Melbourne for the Bruce Springsteen concerts.

Dual Meaning – speaking of the Bruce Springsteen concerts – caricaturist, Ivano, was completing a drawing for a couple of Springsteen fans and he had drawn T-shirts on each of their bodies which required a caption. On the males T-shirt he wrote “Bruce Springsteen Melbourne 2017” and on the female shirt he simply wrote “The Boss”. She was very pleased.