QVM Retail Plan – The Thumbnail Version

The QVM Retail Plan is a comprehensive document that paints a picture of how our market might look after 5 years of renewal. You will find a more comprehensive report below following Malcolm McCullough’s presentation to traders last Tuesday. We will be writing about aspects of the QVM Retail Plan over coming weeks but in the meantime here are the highlights:
- 7 days a week activation of 7plus hectare precinct.
- Annual visitation forecast of over 17 million.
- New pathways for Melbourne’s small independent local business with increased capacity and trading options.
- Expanded offer for retail and business customers.
- 21st Century marketplace logistics and infrastructure in 19th -20th century heritage market buildings and sheds.
- Community programming to host of public spaces: new Market Square, Market Cross and Queen Street Plaza.
- Security and affordability for traditional traders with no increase in licence fees beyond standard CPI growth.

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COMMENTS:
08/05/2017 09:56:13 QVM Retail Plan "A retail plan needs solid compliant traders who grow, promote, support and can plan ahead for a commercially viable future. Traders need security with  leases or licences with terms with options say - 5yrs + 5yrs + 5 yrs. ALL TRADERS SHOULD BE PUTTING THIS AT THE TOP OF THEIR RETAIL PLANS !!!" Proud QVM trader !
No need to shout "Proud QVM trader". We get it. Security is an important part of tackling the future with confidence. Thanks for your input. - Ed.

QVMs Retail Plan Is Comprehensive But…

The newly released Retail Plan is big in concept and gives a picture of how the market will look in 5 years time after a major renewal has been implemented. It won’t tell traders exactly where they will be trading and that is often the first question that traders ask. Specifics like that aside, the Retail Plan is a welcome document for those looking for guidance and a clearer view of how QVM plans to address retail change.

These notes are from a presentation given by CEO Malcolm McCullough on Tuesday after the market to a packed room of traders from most market categories. (See also our article “Retail Plan In Brief”)

“The Start of a Journey”

The first point that Malcolm made was that this plan is not an end product. It is the start of a journey that will involve constant reference to traders as we work through the 45 projects contained in the Implementation Framework released last year. Some provisions are known already –

   - There will be a spot for every trader.

   - There will be a greater spread of hours in the market.

   - There will be greater accessibility for customers.

The Retail Plan is a commercial document that will not only advise traders but also form the basis for funding from CoM and State Government. It is based on taking advantage of increased residency in the CBD and expanding the number of annual visitors to our market to 17 million within the 5 year time span. It includes considerations around affordability for traders and customers, an ongoing focus on traditions of market trading, and heritage matters.

Here are notes on specific market precincts:

Quarter 1 – The Food Court, Food Halls, and H&I Sheds - Areas like the food halls will see little change. There will be improvements to fittings including painting. Airflow will be improved to handle hot and cold conditions. There will be some changes to the way food is handled and Dairy Lane will be enhanced for weather protection and seating. The terrace shops on Elizabeth St. will include a fresh food offer.

“Fresh Food Offer On Elizabeth and Victoria Streets.”

H&I Sheds will continue to have Fruit & Vegetables although other categories may be introduced. Therry St. will have more activation with shops and seating. The entrances to the Food Court and Meat & Fish Hall from Queen St. will be opened up to offer a more integrated food offer including the possibility of fresh food being cooked onsite. Instead of two closed-off entrances imagine an open vista to a world of food.

Quarter 2 – Victoria St to F Sheds – Underground facilities are still on the agenda and underground entrances/exits on Peel St. will in part determine the placement of stalls. The bottom of C Shed will become Fruit & Vegetable and The General Merchandise area in D and E sheds will be devoted to traders who want to stay in the same place.

Underground facilities will enable refrigeration and food handling close to stalls and if combined with customer car-parking will provide a point of entry for customers to Fruit and Vegetables, as well as the rest of the market. The extent of customer parking here will depend on the final configuration of Munro’s, but either way, 720 public car parking spaces are on the agenda.

There will be meat and deli offer on Victoria St. and there will still be stalls on Queen St. including the iconic Donut Van.

Quarter 3 – J Shed to String Bean Alley – this will be the flexible trading area of the market. There will be flexible stall sizes, flexible displays, flexible trading days and flexible trading hours. The String Bean Alley or M Shed “wall” will be condensed to allow greater integration between the new park area (old car park) and the sheds. In other words – more entrances.

Some other key points:

1.Weather protection will be key component with open areas, particularly from F Shed to Victoria St. nominated for protection.

2. Analytics – QVM will enhance its information support to traders.

3. Greater investment in marketing.

4. Safety – ensuring operational safety measures to protect customers and traders from vehicles, forklifts, rubbish etc.

5. Regional Victoria – bring producers back to our market.

6. Rents – will be kept to CPI or specific lease provisions but there will not be a major rent hike.

7. Expanding trader offer with new traders.

8. Munro’s site will not have supermarkets,  franchises or inappropriate competition with current traders.

More information: The Retail Plan (Melbourne’s Marketplace Retail Plan is its full name) contains a lot of information. Questions are inevitable and Traders are urged to contact their Category Managers on any aspect of the plan. Just remember that a five year renewal plan with 45 individual projects will include some unknowns.

We may not know exactly where individual traders will end up, or what trading hours will finally be decided on, but a Retail Plan like this will certainly set guidelines to make those sorts of discussions more predictable.

Have YourSay – click here.

COMMENTS:

06/05/2017 18:12:59 Qvm retail plan """There will be meat and deli offer on Victoria St.""
Can you shed some further light on this at all? This seems to be at odds with the general concept of grouping similar businesses together"
That is a good question and I have emailed Malcolm McCullough today asking for a response. Watch this space. - Ed.

08/05/2017 09:56:13 QVM Retail Plan  "A retail plan needs solid compliant traders who grow, promote, support and can plan ahead for a commercially viable future. Traders need security with  leases or licences with terms with options say - 5yrs + 5yrs + 5 yrs. ALL TRADERS SHOULD BE PUTTING THIS AT THE TOP OF THEIR RETAIL PLANS !!!" Proud QVM trader !

No need to shout "Proud QVM trader". We get it. Security is an important part of tackling the future with confidence. Thanks for your input. - Ed.

Bubble Thinking At QVM.

A new dynamic in the way people think and argue has developed along with the communication revolution (social media in particular) and many think it is a step back.

Bubble thinking is all about thinking the same as those around you. It is accepting an argument because others think it and then confining your analysis to what the bubble says. Articles and books have been written about bubble thinking in relation to a whole range of human endeavour.

A classic example is the description of the City of Melbourne involvement in QVM Renewal as “just a land grab". This is a term that is used by opponents to renewal and it has a history going back to some earlier market proposals (prior 2000) that included high rises across our market. The concept is that there are people who want to "grab" QVM land for other purposes.

These days "land grab" is used in discussions about the Munro's site which doesn't make a lot of sense because Munro's has never been part of our market anyway. But making sense isn't what a bubble is about. It is about perpetuating thoughts that might advance an argument whether it stands up to scrutiny or not. We see a lot of that in social media and "fake news" is a more recent term for similar behaviour.

Thinking outside the square is good advice for entrepreneurs and maybe thinking outside the bubble should become equally fashionable.

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QVM In The News - 2/5/2017

Green light: City of Melbourne councillors approve greenhouse pavilion at Queen Victoria Market - May 3rd. Herald Sun A TEMPORARY pavilion to be built at Queen Victoria Market will be used to try out new trading formats for the market's $250 million redevelopment.

A full financial history of the QVM invesment   May2nd.
CDB News (registration)
As we await Planning Minister Wynne's decision on Queen Victoria Market (QVM) planning controls, it is worth revisiting the full financial history of the ...

Lord Mayor to spruik planned $250m Queen Victoria Market renewal at Chicago summit   May 1st.
Herald Sun
Lord Mayor to spruik planned $250m Queen Victoria Market renewal at ... Cr Doyle has been invited to Chicago to brief global mayors on the market ...

Melbourne Knowledge Week Rescue Dinner   April 28th.
Broadsheet
... Lûmé's Shaun Quade, Philippa Sibley of Syracuse and Ryan Andrijich of Whack it on the Barbie, are taking over Queen Victoria Market for one night ...

Queen Victoria Market revamp could be disrupted by angry protesters   April 28th.
Herald Sun
OPPONENTS of the $250 million Queen Victoria Market redevelopment have ... Hundreds of protesters held a rally at the market today as former prime ...
Paul Keating slams 200m market tower, warns city skyline 'looks like Houston' - The Age

Melbourne City Council set to approve 'urban greenhouse' under Queen Victoria Market revamp   April 27th.
Herald Sun
Fruit and vegetable traders due to the refurbishment of market sheds A and B will ... An artist impression of the proposed Queen Victoria Market “urban ...

Heard Under The Sheds -30/4/2017

The POD – Bruce Pham is doing a great job in the POD but a trader has suggested that perhaps the next resident could be someone with less technical expertise than Bruce. A more mainstream trader might give us another view of how the POD might enhance business. (In fact we need a few PODs don’t we? – Ed)

Anger At Double Standards – one of our market colleagues has pointed out that two of our box hire operators who wore red union shirts at Friday’s anti-renewal protest are also in secret discussions with management about how box hire might take advantage of renewal changes. Is that double standards or just hedging your bets?

Reaction To Protest Rally – apparently there has been an attempt by organisers to talk up the rally although the comments we have heard from traders include – “Disappointing”, “Embarassing”, and “If they had any real alternatives that would have been the time to air them.”

Paying Rent – Another Saturday and another long queue at the office. One trader said they were not aware that they could actually pay their rent at any bank.    Another suggested that QVM invoices could include a barcode that would allow payment at any Post Office. This trader pays most of his bills at the local Post Office.

Retail Plan – As usual not a big crowd turned up at Thursday’s after market briefing but this document is one that traders need to take a really good look at. One attendee told us that a slide showing a deli and a butcher on Victoria St. caught his eye. These are just concepts for discussion but the options for 7 day trading on the outside of the market (while the rest of us get to lead a normal life) makes a lot of sense. The next briefing is Tuesday 2^nd May at the Engagement Hub – 3:30-4:30.

What’s Next? – one trader commented on Saturday - “Well, we’ve had our protest rally. Now, can we actually start moving forward and getting things done around here?”

Never Miss A Photo Opportunity – a visit from Board members Jane Fenton and Patrick Burroughs was a great photo opportunity for this trader.

Betty Looks Great In Red – Betty Jennings donned a red union T-shirt and cap as a bit of a lark on Saturday but refused to leave it on long enough for a photo. There is something incongruous about an independent, hard-nosed entrepreneur in a union uniform.

Have Your Say - click here.

Latest Retail News – 30/4/2017

Latest Retail News – 30/4/2017
1. Shaver Shop raises guidance and shares soar.
2. Kogan upgrades earnings forecast again.
3. Institutional investors purchase luxury shopping precinct St.Collins Lane in Collins St. Melbourne.
4. Debenhams considers leaving “non-core” international markets as profit drops.
5. Italian luxury group Furla buys back its Australian distribution network.
6. French luxury empire LVMH buys Dior fashion group.
7. British luxury fashion retailer, Jimmy Choo, seeks buyer.
8. Gloria Jean closes its last store in Vietnam.
9. Coca-Cola confirms 20% drop in profit.
10. McDonalds reports 4% rise in global sales for first quarter.

An Exciting Time To Be In Retailing

We published an article under this heading a week or two ago but one of our traders had been thinking about the concept and wanted to elaborate.

He says that this is a unique time. We are in the early stages of a retail revolution and this is where opportunities are created. The successful retailers of the future are being created right now and those that are prepared to work hard and be innovative are likely to prosper.

When Walmart and Sears Roebuck threw the old retailing rules out the window and created a new way there was mayhem. Traditional retailers went broke and a whole new phase started. We are at one of those stages in history right now and Amazon is probably the leader in change. But change creates many opportunities and the innovators come from many different backgrounds, even retail markets.

Thanks for the inspiring philosophy ”Jim”.

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Mr Wynne's Decision May Have Just Become A Little Easier

Traders are anxiously waiting on a couple of planning decisions from Victoria's Planning Minister, Mr Richard Wynne so that we can start moving forward on at least some aspects of renewal. Maybe a difficult decision for Mr. Wynne has just become a little easier.

One of Mr Wynne's concerns was that the planned renewal had few friends, well, as it turns out, the protest group that organised a rally at the market on Friday probably has even fewer. After much publicity and hype and with all the big guns being called out (Phil Cleary, Friends of the Market, and the National Union of Workers) Friday's rally attracted as few as 40 people (according to 3AW radio), "up to 150" (from a couple of observers), and "exactly 87" (from someone who took a photo and counted the heads). That was an eye-opener for many observers.

One of the other aspects of this debate has been the interference from celebrities and although Sigrid Thornton has some credentials as a market customer it is difficult to understand why ex-Prime Minister, Paul Keating, had his say on Melbourne radio on Friday. According to a tweet from ex city councillor, Stephen Mayne, Keating and Cleary were mates in parliament, so maybe that explains his involvement.

But this is all getting a little too political and the intrigue is perhaps best left to "Days of Our Lives" supporters. Traders desperately want to get on with addressing a number of issues at our market as we respond to the big issue of a global retail recession. As one trader said, "It is time we got on the bike and started peddling."

Whatever variation exists in trader sentiment, it is clear that most traders want some form of progress. QVM's Retail Plan was launched this week and maybe it has come at just the right time. If Mr Wynne can also join the party, traders and customers may be able to look to the future with some confidence.

Have Your Say - click here.

Trader Comments - 27/4/2017

The following comments have been received following our article - Interfering Could Cost Us Our Market.

29/04/2017 22:54:15      Market Protest rally          "With more than 2000 members of Friends of QVM, more than 500 traders, thousands of regular market shoppers and the support of the unions, ex Prime Ministers and celebrity actors, all that could be mustered at Friday's "Save the Market" protest was about 150 people. Maybe people will now realise there is a silent majority that hope we can just get on with renewing the market  and securing its future for generations to come. "    A real friend of QVM

27/04/2017 19:14:21      Interfering Could Cost us our Market  "The Save QVM group (foqvm) has proven to be the Stifle QVM group. A lot of what they have said on their Facebook page has been quite distressing for some of my customers, especially given that a lot of the time they have twisted or even completely skewed the truth. 

There are so many perversions of the truth on their page but their latest attack on the pod in c shed has hit a sore point with me.  Using a picture of the pod when locked up was clearly a deliberate tactic to make the installation look as unattractive as possible - when the page owner is a shopper who sees it open during trading hours.  The language of the post was also directed to convince people that multiple pods had been installed on site, despite there only being the one unit currently.

What is the greatest pity of this? When open Bruce's display looked fantastic - his use of the pod really let his products take centre stage and elevated them to another level.  I'd also like to congratulate Bruce on being willing to take the risk and trial something innovative like the Pod."

27/4/2017 13:24 Interfering.... "On the one hand we (the traders) have limited facts and information around the all important details of so much of the renewal that other than an in principle acknowledgement that the market needs serious attention and intervention, it's hard to make any considered informed statements on any specific issue. On the other hand we have either wilful or emotive misinformation/disinformation published by an 'anti-renewal' group of people intent on either manipulating and politicizing the issues or being used to accomplish that end.
What is certain are the uncertainties the future brings. Many traders are fearful that renewal works can only add to the uncertainty. And that is the main reason that the 'anti renewal' message sounds alluring to an undefined number of traders ( it must be said however that a significant number of traders give in principle support to 'the renewal' notwithstanding waiting on the all important detail mentioned above, the majority are wary, a vocal minority have presumed to speak for all).
For some regular customers, the fear is to lose what is familiar. For conspiracy theorists, it's just great to have something to fear.
As always there is something for everyone at the Queen Victoria Market.

But all jokes aside, if there is one thing the market can no longer afford it's inaction and neglect. Any proposal or action will have detractors, one can only hope that in the end the true interests of the Market will win out and not misinformation, fear, politics and self interest which unfortunately seem to be the current drivers behind many who 'oppose' or speak against the renewal." - Ivano

28/04/2017 08:56:26 Interfering could cost our Market "This seems to be only Your   opinion."    Albert  Renwood  E Shed

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Interfering Could Cost Us Our Market

Sometimes it is necessary to be blunt in commenting on an important issue and the attempts by “interferers” to derail justifiable investment in our market smacks of a compromise that could endanger the market's future. 

            The latest propaganda by the anti market renewal, anti city hall, (well, anti a lot of things) lobby is to put actress Sigrid Thornton up as an expert on QVM market investment. Why we should listen to this “regular market customer” more than other participants in the debate is difficult to understand. In fact you can extend that list of questionable opinions to wannabe politicians, casual academics, (casual in the sense that they don’t have the same vested interest as real traders) and even market operators who are just looking after their own business interests and don’t have a more extended view of what is best for all traders at QVM.

            Apparently Thornton has expressed concerns at "the skyscraper property deal". But, seriously, who cares about Munro’s being a property deal? The current Munro site has little if any merit. The Munro proposal will provide a building that better enhances our market with its red brick façade,  lane way format, and intended use. Traders generally seem impressed by the proposal. Yes, it has a high-rise, but that is important for the overall business case and if done successfully will help finance essential improvements at QVM.

"Traders with management"

            Traders have a right to be unashamedly parochial on renewal. This is business, and this is a matter for traders and management. We are the key ingredients in a city identity that evokes emotional responses in a whole range of people. We get that…but addressing years of neglect and overcoming a global retail revolution requires intense focus by the experts – traders with management.

            I honestly don’t believe that the majority of traders support the anti-renewal philosophy. We traders know that something special needs to be done about the decline of our market. We have been crying out for investment for years, and now it is here, it would be crazy to support watered down compromises (I don’t recall any genuinely innovative suggestions from the anti group).

 

In any case what massive destruction is being proposed for renewal? The market is pretty much going to look as it has always looked although the car park will become a pedestrian park. The market will still be dominated by small businesses doing what they do best (personally ensuring that customers get service excellence). But achieving that excellence, and competing with a whole range of very competent competitors, will require better facilities – power, water, refrigeration, cleanliness, technology, stock handling, customer services, and so on. And they are areas that we have lost ground on or, in some cases, never really had.

It is important that we get this right. And getting it right is unlikely to include compromises for those who are cynical of change. One of the definitions of compromise is "the expedient acceptance of standards that are lower than is desirable." QVM deserves better than that.

Change can be a frightening prospect. Even the cleverest and most confident in this debate acknowledge that there are unknowns. But keeping the right people (traders with management) focussed on the right problems (addressing real business needs at QVM) will give us the best chance of success. The rest is just a distraction.

By Greg Smith

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QVM In The News - 25/4/2017

NEWS
	Victoria Market revamp: Sigrid Thornton attacks $250m plans Herald Sun ACTOR Sigrid Thornton has launched a savage attack on plans for the $250 million Queen Victoria Market, sparking the fury of Lord Mayor Robert ...

Looking For Signs Of Stress

One of our traders passed away unexpectedly this week and his family asked that instead of flowers donations be made to Beyond Blue, the Australian organisation that addresses depression, anxiety disorders and related mental disorders.

We are not drawing any conclusions from the family’s request, there could be lots of reasons for it, but it does cause us to consider whether more needs to be done amongst QVM Traders to address mental health issues.

We are currently in a very stressful environment. We have a retail revolution that is causing great uncertainty worldwide. Closer to home we are going through a market renewal during which there will be many uncertainties including things like a shrinking market, lack of tenancy, and a range of changes to the way we conduct business, and our lives.

We don't need to over react to this possibility, and finding others to blame has little merit. But if traders are aware of the possibility of stress in our own work environment and with our market neighbours then maybe there are simple things we can do. RUOK is a good start.

Asking your neighbours if they are OK is a good way of opening doors and listening. If there are warning signs then the right action can be taken. Contacting BeyondBlue might also be a good start. 

And maybe this is just the start of a bigger conversation.

By Greg Smith.

QVM POD Update - After 2 Weeks

Trader, Bruce Pham, believes he has the new POD display in C Shed pretty much right after two weeks of experimentation, and he has given us a bit of insight including how sales are going.

Bruce says he was surprised at how difficult it was to set up a new type of display. He was keen to keep the new facility "pure", and not use any of his old fittings from other stalls (Bruce's family operate other stalls in the market). He already had some modern display signs to identify his business and they fitted in well. He also engaged a merchandiser to help set up displays and make the most of a more professional setting.

Some Key Changes -

Setting up and packing down times - Bruce finds he can set up in about 25 minutes and pack down in 10 minutes (I can hear a collective sigh from traders reading this article - Ed). When asked if would change any aspect of the design, Bruce said he would put some fittings on wheels to simplify the process further.

Customer attitudes - Bruce finds customers are more respectful and less likely to demand discounts at the POD. A similar reaction was found by traders who moved to String Bean Alley.
Cleanliness - Bruce can now put out pure white socks without fear of soiling.

Bruce has set up a TV display in a prominent position and screens an excellent video about sock making and design, which has already gained thousands of views on social media. He is also screening other videos and photos relating to his business, and customers do stand and watch.

Sales - Bruce says sales from the POD are already nearing the sales of his family's other stalls and on one Saturday, the POD had the highest sales. Given its position in "one of the worst aisles in the market", he thinks that is a pretty good result.

We appreciate Bruce's willingness to share his experiences in the POD. 

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Lord Mayor Brings QVM Heritage Listing A Step Closer

If you have been reading propaganda from certain quarters lately you could be forgiven for thinking that the City of Melbourne wants to destroy the Queen Victoria Market.

In fact, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle set up the process for renewal back in 2012, and then announced the intention to seek protection for the market through a world heritage listing in 2013. 

He has now joined with the Federal Environment Minister, Josh Frydenberg, to take an important step in the heritage process. Last Friday they asked the National Heritage Council to place the market on the register of the country's most important heritage sites. According to the Herald-Sun “The move would ensure the historical elements of the site would not be demolished by a future state government.”

Let's hope this is just the first step in getting formal national and international recognition for our wonderful market and helps to safeguard its existence for future generations. 

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Cheap Parking Comes At A Cost.

The introduction of a free first hour/ $5 second hour car parking fee structure at QVM seems to have worked with reports that customer churn figures show significant improvement. Trader observations over Easter certainly seemed to confirm that. But attracting more customers has its price with a significant reduction in car park income that could impact on market services in the future.

It doesn't take Einstein to realise that a $12 fee for 2 hours parking changing to a $5 fee for the same period (or even less if customers leave within the first hour) is going to reduce income by many thousands of dollars. Add in the fact that more people are sticking to the 2 hour limit, and the impact is significant.

We can argue about the appropriateness of charging parking fees in the first place, particularly given the fact that suburban shopping centres are largely fee free (although that is changing). Of course we are not a shopping centre (sorry, had to throw that in) and we do co-exist with some exorbitant CBD parking rates. 

The fees charged at QVM are part of revenue used to pay for things like improvements to facilities and marketing. In fact one of our traders suggested this week that QVM should be promoting the car park "fee" as a protection for future generations. You know the sort of thing "Your car parking fee goes to improving our market."- a bit of marketing hype but it has some validity. 

You can put this discussion under the category of "What have they ever done for us?" Well, in this case, management action has put more customers in our car park. It comes at a cost, but Traders will welcome any boost to customer flow and making QVM a more attractive shopping destination.

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QVM In The News - 21/4/2017

NEWS
	Campaign launched to protect Australia's iconic Queen Victoria Market Xinhua SYDNEY, April 21 (Xinhua) -- A campaign has been launched to protect Melbourne's iconic Queen Victoria Market by having it placed on Australia's ... Flag as irrelevant
	Melbourne Express: Friday, April 21, 2017 The Age ... will be holding a media doorstop this morning to ask the Australian Heritage Council to add the Queen Victoria Market to its National Heritage List.

NEWS
	Heritage bid for Queen Victoria market Herald Sun MELBOURNE'S Queen Victoria Market could be placed on Australia's National Heritage List — ensuring its iconic facade would be protected in any ... Have Your Say - click here