Sunday 24 February 2019

Heard Under The Sheds – 24/2/2019



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?