Sunday 13 May 2018

Heard Under The Sheds – 13/5/2018



A Tram Under The Sheds – Why aren’t we adopting one of Melbourne’s icons says one trader. Melbourne’s trams are a great attraction for the city and an old tram on Queen St or even under the sheds could be a real point of difference. Imagine a tram set up with micro stalls or as a food outlet with stalls hanging off it. If you put it under the sheds, you could incorporate it in Night Market activities. It sounds like a great idea. What do you think?

New Winter Attire – Mick swears this headgear was just the thing for Friday’s cold winter blast but do you think we should tell him about the impact on his dress sense?

A Car Park Idea – this trader thinks we should immediately move all C and D Shed traders over to J-M Sheds. This would create a vibrant market offer without all the current gaps and allow the vacant space in C and D to be used for car parking. The considerable income generated from car parking could be channelled into promoting the market.

Weather Protection - A trader has reminded us that the market was first built in the 1870’s with open air aisles but when the custodians of the market decided to create new sheds (K-L) in the 1930’s, they designed continuous roofing as the most appropriate way to manage market activities. Why is that so hard to grasp when it comes to F Shed and SBA in 2018?

J Shed Sun Protection – meanwhile shading has been installed in a trial section of J Shed to minimise the impact of heat and sunlight degradation on some products. Sun protection has been an issue in this aisle for a long time and it is great to see action being taken. The shade panels can be removed to adjust light entry and traders will be watching the impact of this measure over coming weeks.

Stall Cancellations -  thanks to one of our Market Officers for pointing out that the Operational Mobile Number (0418222119) can be used for texting stall absences. If you are not happy with the standard stall cancellation phone number (where you leave a voice message) you can text the Operational Mobile Number and have a record of your cancellation.

Trader Outed For Non-payment of Rent – it doesn’t happen very often but apparently a trader has been excluded from trading because of excess rent owed. Generally these issues can be worked out and the secret is to talk through matters with management.

A Wonderful Sight – a number of traders said how good it was to see buses queuing up on Peel St. to off-load delegates from a Melbourne conference. On this occasion the business seemed to stop at souvenir sellers, but business is business, no matter where it comes, from and who benefits.

Another Wonderful Sight - was the souvenir trader at the bottom of  LShed on Friday at around 3:30 , who had delayed packing up due to a bus load of tourists turning up. As the rest of the market packed he experienced a frenzy of buying.

The Vacant SBA Container - apparently 21 applications were received for this container and 5 have been short listed for interviews next week.

Have Your Say - click here.

COMMENTS:
13/05/2018 12:33:48      Conference Delegates       "Would it be possible for someone to do a quick survey from Stallholders and ask a simple question, did the conference delegates have an impact on their takings....lm guessing 95% would say NO,unless your product line is between $5 & $10 these type of customers have little impact on the majority of stallholders."
In the absence of a proper survey I think you are correct. As stated above the business seemed to stop at souvenir sellers. One of our souvenir traders explained that this was a different group of delegates to some previous occasions like the Tupperware conference. This group showed little intent to purchase beyond inexpensive souvenirs. Maybe that will be different with the next group. - Ed 


13/05/2018 23:39:01      Conference Delegates       "A posable 2300 delegates visiting the market over the course of a week and some traders still are not happy .Maybe there never happy. Many were purchasing cheaper items but in good quantities and with that many people circulating the sheds that has to be a good thing for the Market and they were buying food & drink while here as well. So spreading the love.
Perhaps other traders will benefit from future customer demographics . In the meantime every little bit helps. "
Thanks for your input. Let's not get too angry at traders who see business happening but are not directly benefiting. I think you are correct - the next group visiting may bring a totally different buying trend. It might be a rugby crowd from Queensland, or a conference with a completely different demographic. In the meantime we should applaud visitation of any sort - and let's keep them coming. - Ed

13/05/2018 22:46:33      Car Park Idea           "Think it through . A car park between A&B and E sheds .Are you going to build an access tunnel or bridge for customers oh&s and would cars be entering or exiting Queen st for traffic flow ??"
Damn! I hate it when a good idea gets shot down by logic. But, quite like the bridge idea - sort of a forest canopy walk over the rooftops. Thanks for your input. - Ed.

16/05/2018 14:26:54      car park idea           "Wouldn't the Victoria St shops and A & B sheds be disconnected from the rest of the market community with 2 aisles of car parking in-between them."
Yes they would, and we need to think it through as our previous poster suggested. A lot of pedestrians use that top walkway to navigate between different sections of the market. Thanks for your input - Ed.