Sunday, 5 August 2018

Heard Under The Sheds – 5/8/2018


To Beer Or Not To Beer – a few traders have questioned the suitability of alcohol being promoted at the new beer precinct during the day market while others say it is refreshing innovation for QVM. Retail entertainment is certainly a driving philosophy for retail globally and as one trader said – “The only measure here is customer demand. If customers want this, I want it too.”

A Trader has questioned our temporary toilet facilities particularly during the busy night market. Apparently there have been complaints about equipment and cleanliness, particularly in the ladies toilets. We understand that management are working to correct any short comings in temporary toilets while the Queen Street block is being renovated.

Using Empty Spaces. – one of our empty stalls in K Shed was put to good use on Saturday with a short  impromptu game of Badminton – completely safe and considerate of customer flow.  One trader suggested that perhaps this could be a serious activity in empty areas of the market. Indoor soccer, cricket or golf could be other options.

Extra Car Parking – the news of an extra 280 car spaces for customers was generally greeted well although as one trader said – “It depends on where they put them. It won’t be much good if they put them on the rings of Saturn.” He is right about that.

New Arrivals – actually not new traders, but old traders trading on new days. A trader commented that there were a few established traders trading for the first time on Tuesday. Maybe it is part of the “Yes” philosophy from our Precinct Managers (see last week’s Heard Under The Sheds).

Reports of a productive TRC meeting involving Lord Mayor, Sally Capp, on Tuesday. One trader said that she shows genuine personal warmth with traders and their issues.

A market promotion for Ambiance’s Christmas range caused one trader to ask – “Why can’t we start Christmas promotion early for the Specialty Traders in the Upper Market? A Christmas in July promotion may just set the seed for strong sales performance in December.”

And Continuing the Christmas Reference - one of our traders sold a brass hand bell to a gentleman with a long white beard on Saturday, and yes, he was preparing for his Santa Claus role later in the year.

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