Saturdays Free Music Event At QVM

Saturday morning (15/11/2014) kicked off the free music events at QVM with our video showing an appreciative crowd at the top end of String Bean Alley at around 10:45 am.

Traders Get Respect In Therry St. Marquee.

It is early days but traders in the special Therry St. Marquee seem reasonably happy with their performance. If nothing else, trading with the Night Market on Wednesdays is a bonus but, for a few traders there is an extra ingredient and it is called customer respect.

A couple of traders have reported that their customers have acted quite differently to when they trade under the sheds. The atmosphere of the marquee, with its professional lighting, ordered layout, and quality presentation seems to generate a more positive attitude from some customers. Creating different trading environments for traders could have some potential.

Have Your Say - click here.

Music Week - News Under The Sheds

The Melbourne Music Week Event has started at QVM and we have some preliminary news from traders under the sheds.

Music Levels - The main stage area at the top of JKLM sheds can certainly pump out the decibels but fortunately during trading hours the levels have been kept at a comfortable level with many customers appearing to enjoy the music.

Business Levels - still early days but we have mixed reports from the top end with some traders reporting poor business and some reporting better than average sales. Interestingly, 8 containers in String Bean Alley remained open on Friday evening for the evening music session and reported an appreciative crowd but very little business.

A Humorous Side - one of the workers from the wire fenced music area showed he had a sense of humour when he came out into the general market area and asked one of our toy traders if she could lower the volume on a singing doll she had on display.

Stall Availability - only three stalls were available for casual allocation in the top end on Saturday morning as the Music Week Event had an impact on vacant stalls.

Customer Flows - closing the Peel St. ends of J, K, and L sheds has obviously impacted on customer movement with traders in those sheds probably being the losers, and String Bean Alley and F shed traders being the winners as customers find alternative ways to move from Peel St. to the bottom end of the market. Again, it is early days and difficult to draw conclusions.

Have Your Say - click here.

COMMENTS:
16/11/2014 19:59:06 Music week "Well they didn't care because the bad language could be heard all the way to the bottom of "L" shed  around 4pm, with traders apologising to customers with young families. " 

Choosing Suitable Competitors For Existing Tenants

How do you introduce new retailers (or traders) into a product category while limiting any damage to the existing retailers in that category?

This was the dilemma faced by a UK shopping centre when it wanted to introduce new food & beverage operators without damaging the business of one of its prime current tenants. The prime tenant sold Japanese food.

The answer for this centre lay in the readily available sales data for UK shopping centres which enabled them to compare the takings of Japanese food restaurants and cross link with other types of food outlets.

They found that Mexican, American and Italian restaurants were less likely to impact on their Japanese food outlet and so they targeted those types of restaurants to fill their vacancies.

One example where comprehensive data can be very useful.

Have Your Say - click here.

Therry St Market Lights Up

Getting the Therry St. marquee ready for today's Night Market was always going to be touch and go but, as our photo shows, all are to be congratulated for getting the special pop-up market operational in swift time. It looks like a pretty good crowd too.

Thanks to Mino for the photo.

Therry Street Market Takes Shape

Thanks to our "On the spot" reporter we have some photos of the construction of the showcase marquee in Therry St. which commenced this morning (Monday)

John Lewis Christmas Advertisement

UK retailer, John Lewis, have become famous for their moving Christmas TV advertisements and 2014 is no exception. Enjoy!

Latest Retail News - 9/11/2014

Latest Retail News – 9/11/2014
1. Payless Shoes bounces back from administration.
2. Blind woman takes legal action against Coles claiming website inaccessible.
3. Westfield reports sales increases across Australia and NZ retail centres.
4. British retailer, Marks & Spencer reports lower fashion sales due warm weather.
5. Coffee Club to roll out another 20 stores before Christmas.
6. Singapore electronics retailer taken to court after complaints from tourists.
7. New Melbourne brewery, Barrow Boys, named after QVM workers.
8. Australian e-tailer, Shoes of Prey, partners with US department store.
9. Ralph Lauren takes over 15 windows at Harrods to launch new range.
10. Country Road creates dedicated space for men shoppers.
11. Myer drops “My store” tag in latest campaign.
12. Noni B recruits former head of Bras N Things as CEO.
13. Woolworths reports higher quarterly sales.
14. New Apple Pay concept resisted by some US retailers.
15. Wesfarmers denies it is eyeing off AMP.
16. McDonalds plans new restaurant every fortnight in Thailand during 2015.
17. Toys’R’Us fined for unsafe product.
18. Flight Centre warns it will struggle to achieve sales targets.
19. Sumo Salad expands into US market.
20. Dominos upgrades earnings forecast after good first quarter.
21. Gloria Jean’s coffee chain sold.
22. Australian retail sales return to positive growth.

Comment On 1 Year Renewals

From one of our traders -

09/11/2014 08:02:09 SL License "So management have decided that our businesses are not worth anything. How can anyone be expected to sell a business with only a 1 year lease with no options. Management says if we sell, we sell our business not our stalls, but with no goodwill margin in the sale, that's just unfair.
This management claims to be working with us, but it feels more and more like their plan is to make all if traders feel like it would be easier to walk away, that way they are able to go ahead with their plans ( the ones they claim to not have, but more things keep pointing towards they have an agenda and plans in place.)
With purchase of Munros corner, surely the excuse of redevelopment is not a fair reason behind saying 1 year lease only, as the redevelopment now needs to be reconsidered. So in a couple if years time when the new plans are released, will the market have been shrunk by all of the non renewal of the 1 year leases." Disappointed in management.

Have Your Say - click here. 

Bold New Face For Traders 3

This is the third example we have published of a trader who has taken advantage of QVM financial assistance to make his stall a whole lot more identifiable to customers with a prominent banner.

We often talk about the 3 seconds you have to influence your customers as they walk pat your stall. Without the sign, this stall could be missed as just another gift outlet. With the sign, this stall becomes "Purse World" and the customer doesn't have to waste his 3 seconds working out what he is looking at. It also becomes an easily identifiable pointer for when the customer wants to find this trader again.

Contact the office if you would like to arrange your own unique identifier.

Have Your Say - click here.

Trader Features In Sydney Morning Herald

This Sydney Morning herald article describes String Bean Alley as more like an intimate craft or farmer’s market than the rest of QVM.

The article goes on to describe the involvement of Petal’s Julie Griffiths in creating her range of hand and body lotions, essential oils and a range of teas.

Very nice exposure for one of our traders including a link to the Petal website. Can we just point out (again) that having a website increases you potential exposure to a broader range of customers and when your website is posted in main-stream media that exposure is likely to generate sales.

Have Your Say – click here.

Mother Nature Flips At QVM

Here is a sight you won't see in the controlled atmospheres of Chadstone, Southland, or Doncaster shopping centres. 

Saturday afternoon's freak weather change was heralded by a very strong gust of wind from the west which was just perfectly aligned down F shed where this trader's storage box happened to be.

Mother Nature took seconds to blow the heavy storage box on to its back but traders decided that a forklift was needed to get it back up again. Aaaah ...... the joys of open-air market trading.

Have Your Say - click here.

Therry St Market Map

A number of traders who are being relocated to Therry St.during the Melbourne Music Festival have expressed concern about whether their customers will be able to find them.

We have prepared this market map which shows where the special Therry St. market will be held and advises the opening hours. Traders can right click on the map, press "copy", and transfer the graphic to a word processor or similar program for printing out and handing to their customers, or simply email this page to their customers.

Source New Fashion At Melbourne Fair

The Australian International Sourcing Fair opens at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre on 18^th November.

The fair will feature international fashion and textile suppliers looking for customers in Australia and is co-located with the China Clothing and Textiles Expo 2014. Traders can find more details here – www.sourcingfair.com.au

A More Positive Retail Outlook

According to the Financial Review, retailers are moving on from cost-cutting and engaging in new store rollouts in a positive reaction to business growth. In a sense QVM is doing the same thing with its renewal program.

 A survey in September and October showed that 70% of retailers are expected to open new Bricks'n'Mortar stores in 2015. This is up from 55% the same time last year when cost-cutting and margin protection were seen as priorities. Despite competition from online and the new international arrivals, particularly in fashion, retailers are looking to change their strategies to a more positive outlook. No doubt the success of concepts like Melbourne's new Emporium centre has contributed to the optimism. It is not clear if "new stores" refers to adding stores, or includes some refurbishing or relocating, but the emphasis is on "new".

QVM's renewal will utilise our existing iconic buildings but with a completely new look at market retailing. In fact, isn't the Draft Master Plan due out this month? We wait with great expectations.

Have Your Say - click here.

Could Co-operation Be Gaining The Upper Hand?

QVM Traders have been subjected to more than their fair share of issues in recent weeks. First the rent review in the Dairy Hall, then the Music Week relocation, the introduction of a new Sunday market in C shed, followed by lease restrictions for SL licenses, a craft market in L shed that will impact on other traders, and the list goes on.

All these measures have the potential to strain management/trader relations and yet they seem to be moving along with a fair degree of co-operation. That is not to say there are not some disgruntled traders and some frustrated management staff but this would be expected in any business upheaval. The saving grace is probably that many of these measures are aimed at improving business levels and have the potential to work our market through the toughest period of retailing in almost a century.

We don't wish to pontificate too much on this subject, nor to poison the discussion with unwarranted optimism or negativism but let's just say that both traders and management deserve some plaudits for the level of co-operation that has been shown so far.

Have Your Say - click here.

How Can Traders Compete?

A simple email from our local supermarket has caused quite a consternation in our household. The email contained a list of products on special and looked like any generic catalogue you might receive in the mail. It seemed innocent enough until my wife realised that she had actually purchased each of those products over recent weeks. She uses a dedicated membership card at this supermarket and the retailer was using data collected at the checkout to tempt us with specials that we would most likely be interested in because we had purchased them before.

We are all familiar with retailers promoting to us through print, tv, email, and now social media. The methods have evolved over recent years to take on new digital avenues for communication but there is another element to the process and it is a bit scary. It is called Big Data and it relates to the huge amount of information that is being collected by retailers to boost their connection with customers.

Before traders start stressing over the difficulties of competing with every new innovation in retailing we should point out that the experience of one of the big boys in global retailing questions the value of Big Data. Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket, was acknowledged as the leader in customer research, analytics and loyalty programs. Tesco was the king of digital and yet its fall from grace following a long list of disastrous, highly publicised gaffs has severely tarnished its reputation and resulted in the recent resignation of its Chairman. One analyst has commented that Tesco may have collected a lot of data about its customers, but its competitor's slightly lower prices and simple uncomplicated retailing appear to be winning the day.

This is a technological age. Not even QVM traders can avoid the need to engage with customers in new ways, perhaps with something as simple as having a page on the QVM website, or your own web site, or engaging in social media. But if Tesco's competitors are a guide, we don’t have to get too sophisticated. Being price competitive, keeping it simple, and offering great service appear to be the three critical ingredients for success.

Have Your Say - click here.

Employment Decline Could Impact On Christmas Sales

Activity in the key services sector of Australia's economy fell to a 15 month low in October. The trend is concerning economic commentators and points to a difficult period for retailers this Christmas. The Performance of Services Index compiled by the Australian Industry Group fell 1.8 points to 43.6 during October.

Services account for more than three quarters of employment in the country and includes key areas like insurance and finance which have shown sharp declines in activity. Slow growth in disposable income along with a flat labour market is likely to see hesitant spending this Christmas period as employees become more concerned about their future.

Commentators look to the services sector for the first signs of economic growth and that is unlikely to occur in the short term. QVM Traders will need to look for every advantage as we battle for limited disposable income in the lead up to Christmas.

Have Your Say - click here.

Oops!....We Lost Some Trader Comments

We have lost two trader comments that were posted in the last couple of days. The glitch occurred as  we changed over to a new version of the program that handles the Have Your Say component of the website. 
We do know that one comment referred to licenses and the other to the cleaning of the K and L shed roofs. Have Your Say is back in operation again. Would those two traders please re-post their comments. Our apologies for the stuff-around. - Ed

Have Your Say - click here.

Where Is The Wi-Fi?

This article is being typed in the QVM Food Court courtesy of free Government wi-fi. The State Government announced "Australia's largest free public Wi-Fi network" this week with Queen Victoria Market one of the first to go live. The Government is spending $6.7m over 5 years and as our spot check showed today the availability at QVM has its limitations.

In fact the official blurb says "The first three sites to go live are the Queen Victoria Market (Queen Street/Victoria Street entrance)". That reference to the entrance at cnr Queen and Victoria streets is relevant because wi-fi in the Food Court is excellent and the signal extends back along Queen St. towards Therry St. but disappears as soon as your step under the sheds in the top end or enter the Diary Hall.

Public wi-fi is an essential component of our market as the influence of communication and particularly social media gains ground (see our article earlier this week on the significant contribution of wi-fi to Canberra's Floriade festival). Hopefully the rollout will soon extend to the rest of our market so all our customers (and the traders they support) can enjoy its benefits.

Have Your Say - click here.