Sunday 14 February 2016

Heard Under The Sheds

1. The influx of visitors for the Military Tattoo at Etihad Stadium has caused at least one trader to review his opinion of older demographic customers. He admitted to having a fairly low opinion of the older customer group, at least for his product range, but this weekend has proved otherwise with very brisk sales across the weekend. He will not be so hasty to prejudge any customer's potential when they walk into his stall.

2.Security is an ongoing concern in open stalls particularly when we have large crowds. Apparently today (14/2/2016) one trader spotted some younger customers suspiciously walking down the aisle with unbagged stock and quickly rang security only to be told that they were too busy patrolling the outer perimeters of the market to venture into the sheds. It is not clear whether that is an official directive or just circumstances at the time. Security starts on each trader's stall but there is a reasonable expectation that thieves will not be allowed to move unimpeded around our market. 

3. A number of QVM souvenir traders took part in a special market out at Flemington Racecourse mid-week to provide shopping facilities for the huge crowd of international performers who were conducting their rehearsals for the Military Tattoo. T-shirts, sheepskin boots, and general souvenirs were on display and according to reports from traders this was a successful venture. Well done.

4. Apparently this week there was an instance of a casual trader being asked to pack up his stall early in the morning because a neighbour had complained of competition from similar products. In a retail world that embraces like-retailers being grouped together in order to maximise their sales impact is our practice at QVM outmoded?

Have Your Say - click here

COMMENT:
15/02/2016 22:00:17 Casual trader asked to packup  "The Market officers should have been more aware of the position the casual trader was being placed in in order to avoid any confrontation with other traders. I thought there is a rule about being 4 or 5 sales minimum spaces between like stalls . We no not have the luxury of 150% to 200% mark up like shops . Our margins are a lot leaner than that so to have like product stalls so close to each other could be devastating.I hope the casual trader was given another stall through no fault of their own."  
Thanks very much for your input, and the casual trader was able to set up elsewhere. - Ed.