What Does The Trader Support Fund Mean

One of the initiatives being put to City of Melbourne on Tuesday 29^th August concerns business continuity for traders during renewal and how traders might be assisted as they tackle a period of construction and change. Some traders are asking if the proposal being put to Council needs clarification before it becomes useful.

The proposal refers to a Trader Support Fund and a complementary Trader Assistance Program. That combination will include financial compensation and other assistance including what has been referred to as advice from various sources including “Business Partners”.

The Trader Support Fund Advisory Committee is the governing body through which individual trader requests for financial assistance from the Fund would be made and assessed. At Thursdays Trader Meeting, Joanne Wandel was keen to point out that this involves public money and there would be strict accountability. The Council has further stated that there is no legal obligation for them to provide compensation.

A minimum of $8 million has been allocated to the Fund. According to the proposal put to Council “The purpose of the Fund is to provide financial assistance to Traders where the effects of the QVMPR Program works cannot be adequately mitigated and have resulted in a demonstrable negative impact on the Trader's profit during the period of the works.”

There are many questions surrounding the application of the fund. The fund is capped so does that mean that some deserving traders might miss out? Are we trying to protect the smaller fragile traders or those with larger business operations at QVM?  How will compensation be calculated? Will it be applied to rent? For some traders rent has a significant impact on profit, for others it is less significant.

Any assistance package is a very welcome ingredient for traders, but maybe we need to know more about how this might work and how the unique fragility of small market businesses will be addressed.

Have Your Say - click here.

COMMENTS:
27/08/2017 19:30:04      Trader Support Fund        "Undoubtedly most traders welcome, appreciate and endorse any assistance on offer but given the short period available to review and comment on the initiatives they would welcome an opportunity to discuss many of the questions raised by the information currently available to them thus ensuring the best possible use of the funds generously made available by the Melbourne council."       Ivano
Thanks Ivano. You know more about this subject than most traders. More information would be good. - Ed

Heard Under The Sheds – 27/8/2017

Customer, Bernie, says he has a great idea for our proposed parkland on the site of the current car park. He believes we should have a mini zoo with kangaroos and koalas. It would be a great tourist attraction and remind all city dwellers, including traders, of our affinity with native animals.

Rain On The Night Market – our night markets are usually blessed with fair weather so heavy rain at 5pm on Wednesday came as a bit of a shock for traders. Apparently the crowd was down from the usual 30,000 to 18,000.

A Better Way To Determine Trader Compensation – instead of complex financials one trader has suggested BMI should be used. Body Mass Index figures before and after the commencement of renewal would indicate which traders have not been able to pay for essentials like food and are in most need of financial assistance. Trouble is that bananas might be offered as compensation.

Keep Digging – trader, Andy, is proposing that the digging under the sheds should go deep enough to link up with Metro Rail and give QVM its own railway station. As he says, that would solve half our parking problem.

Andrew Cyples Last Day – Friday was Andrew’s last day as he embarks on another stage of his career. You might see him down around the Exhibition Centre. Thanks for all the good work Andrew, particularly your tourism expertise.

Trestle Table Transformation – a few weeks back we wrote about a new trader in C Shed who had a minimal display using an old market timber trestle table, no cloth, and very little merchandising. Well, on Saturday he had transformed his display to include a black cloth that showed off his salt lamps beautifully, some discreet price marking, and a very professional display poster explaining the qualities of his product range. He said he actually liked using the natural timber table but agreed his display now looks more professional and serves him better.

One trader lamented the lack of interstate AFL teams in Melbourne this weekend and is looking forward to interstate teams participating in the finals.

Car Parking – Thursday’s trader information session in the Queen St. Engagement Hub was well attended and very informative although one sticking point appeared to be provision for car parking. A trader questioning how cars could be excluded from under the sheds (as planned under the renewal) when only the original 720 customer car spots were currently planned with 200 under A,B,C, and D Sheds, and 520 under Munro’s. Joanne Wandel said they were hoping to create an extra 38 spaces in the market underground and more spaces could be available with the developments at the southern end of the market.  We understand that QVM originally nominated that 1300 spaces were needed for customers and traders.

A Trader Commenting On Trader Success At The Night Market – pointed out that every trader at the night market (30 food and 50 Specialty Merchandise) probably gets customer exposure at a rate of 375 customers per trader. The day market traders get around 50 customers per trader.  Maybe that is the kpi we need to work on for the day market.

Have Your Say - click here.

COMMENTS:
28/08/2017 16:17:47 Car Parking Spaces "With 700 hundred stall holders and allowing for 20 Management staff we will all have one car space each. Whats the problem???"
Exactly! - Ed

Latest Retail News – 27/8/2017

Latest Retail News – 27/8/2017
1. David Jones continues rollout of its new food concept.
2. Homewares retailer, House, considers UK expansion.
3. Coles says current competitive pressures are unprecedented.
4. Walmart’s online sales up 60%.
5. Kogan smashes results forecasts.
6. Michael Hill reports strong earnings despite US difficulties.
7. H&M owned, Cos, opens its third Melbourne store.
8. Cash Converters increases profit despite lower sales revenue.
9. Coca Cola earnings fall.
10. Woolworth’s supermarket sales up - $1.5m profit.
11. Myer replaces Topshop occupied floor space with Forever New.
12. “Dated and tired” Big W chain continues to drain on Woolworths.
13. T.K.Maxx’s performance hit by high Aussie Dollar.
14. Jewellery chain, Lovisa, buoyed by international expansion.
15. Walmart and Google join forces on voice assisted shopping.
16. David Jones sales fall.
17. Surfstitch appoints administrators.
18. Typo continues UK expansion.
19. Beacon Lighting expects record year following Masters exit.

QVM In The News - 25/8/2017

WEB

Business For Sale: Coffee and Sandwiches Queen Victoria Market. SEEK Business In the heart of the deli section at Queen Victoria Market.* 5 days operation.* Mainly run by staff.* A rare opportunity to be part of the iconic dairy section ... Melbourne crowned Most Liveable City for the seventh year in a row the AU review (blog) ... that now in Melbourne with many major, necessary projects underway including Melbourne Metro and the Queen Victoria Market Renewal Project.”.

Warning That Major Retailers Are At Risk of Collapse

SV Partners are a major liquidation firm, recently asked to look after the interests of Australian luxury handbag chains Victoria Station and Kate Hill, have warned that almost 1600 Australian retail businesses are at risk of imminent collapse, including 21 major retailers with $50m+ turnovers and one with $1b turnover.

Challenges for retailers include-

-         High rents in capital cities.

-         Increased competition from online.

-         High labour costs.

-         Amazon’s entry into the Australian market.

-         Weak wages growth.

-         High property prices.

-         Household expenses including power.

SV Partners draw their data from a variety of commercially sourced records which indicate those businesses showing vulnerability to loan and debt repayments, cash flow problems, and other adverse financial conditions.

See the full article from Inside Retail here - https://www.insideretail.com.au/blog/2017/08/22/major-retailers-on-the-brink/

Have Your Say - click here.

Detail Of New Underground Proposal And Trader Support Program

The details presented at Thursday’s Trader meeting about the new QVM underground proposal and the Trader Support Fund are to be put to a City of Melbourne Council Meeting on Tuesday 29^th August for consideration.

The details have been published on the CoM website and can be viewed by clicking on the following items - 

6.6Queen Victoria Market Precinct Renewal (QVMPR) Program: Proposed design for thebelow ground operational area A to D sheds, including preferred vehicularaccess point

6.8Queen Victoria Market Precinct Renewal (QVMPR) Program - Continuing BusinessFramework.  - Gives Details of the Trader Support Fund and Trader Support Program.

Have Your Say – click here.

A Great Video Campaign For Our Market

The first video in the QVM Champions Of Aussie Made campaign was launched on Facebook on Thursday and it is a standout endorsement of a much under-valued aspect of the QVM offer.

We have a significant number of Australian products in our market and the video of David Kiper’s Catcher Coats range draws a wonderful link between modern clothing styles and old fashioned Australian craftsmanship.

David has a no-nonsense approach to his business and to retailing generally. Click on the photo above to be taken to the video.

Hopefully David will get a good response to this exposure, but more importantly, the market generally will gain a boost. Other coat traders, the fashion category generally, and every trader who can benefit from new consumer interest at QVM should welcome this type of promotion.

One trader who shared the video amongst their facebook friends and family got a big reaction. You might like to do the same. Everybody will love it, especially Beryl from Beaumaris (you have to watch the video).

Have Your Say - click here.

QVM In The News - Renewal Plans.

NEWS
	Queen Victoria Market sheds excavation to be deeper but over less area, council plan reveals Herald Sun EXCAVATIONS under Queen Victoria Market's distinctive sheds will be deeper but affect a smaller area under revised plans for the heritage-listed site ...

NEWS
	Vic Market to go deep underground, but some traders still dark on Melbourne City Council The Age The next stage of Melbourne City Council's quarter-of-a-billion-dollar Queen Victoria Market redevelopment has been unveiled, with a proposed ... Flag as irrelevant
	Market to go deep underground, but traders still dark on Council Bendigo Advertiser The Age, News . Queen Victoria Market traders opinions on the new development.Pic shows Marshall Waters of ReWine (correct spelling). Pic SImon ... Flag as irrelevant
	Melbourne Prepping for Rapid Population Growth The Urban Developer “We'll also spend $29 million on the Queen Victoria Market precinct, as we move from planning into project delivery of the world's largest current ...

New Proposal Provides Assistance For QVM Traders During Renewal

A standing room only meeting at the Engagement hub this afternoon was the opportunity for QVM traders to hear and see the new plan for underground and temporary pavilion construction commencing in October.

A large number of issues were discussed and will be further examined over coming months with plans and documentation to come. In the meantime the city has released a summary of the latest proposal which will go to City Council next Tuesday for ratification. 

Here is the release on the CoM website this afternoon -

The City of Melbourne has revealed an innovative package to provide dedicated business and financial support for traders at Queen Victoria Market when market renewal works begin later this year.

​

Acting Lord Mayor Arron Wood said Council will consider a commitment of at least $8 million to establish a support program and fund to help traders operate, develop and innovate their businesses throughout the five-year renewal program.

We will also propose to establish a team of business partners who will be available for traders who would like assistance during the renewal program. This support includes one-on-one business mentoring with traders on business development opportunities and customer retention.

“Queen Victoria Market is home to some 700 small businesses who are at the heart of the market and an integral part of its future,” Acting Lord Mayor Arron Wood said.

“The recently-released independent business case showed us that doing nothing is not an option and without intervention, businesses will continue to decline.”

“That is why we are working with traders and market management every step of the way to ensure their businesses can thrive into the future.

At its meeting next Tuesday, Council will consider a revised design for a reduced footprint for the below ground operational area under A to D sheds after listening to trader and customer feedback.

The operational area under Sheds A to D will deliver 26,000m2 of floor area, including:

Mezzanine: dedicated trader amenities including showers, toilets, break out spaces, lockers and change room facilities;

Level 1: capacity for large vehicles including delivery trucks and garbage vehicles with a loading dock and separate area for forklifts;

Level 2: dedicated trader loading and unloading with parking for trader vehicles, storage, cool rooms, food preparation areas, recycling and waste management facilities;

Level 3: 220 customer car parking spaces with lift access taking customers direct to heart of the upper fresh food market, which traders had asked Council to consider. An additional 500 customer car parks to be located at the Munro site.

“Our proposed plan is for a smaller but deeper footprint for the below ground facilities at the western end of A to D Shed,” the Acting Lord Mayor said.

“This will allow the Queen Street end of the heritage sheds to remain in place for ongoing trading and reduced disruption. These and all the remaining sheds will be restored on site.

“The amended below ground design means the new market pavilion can be reduced to 120 metres, less than half the original proposed size.”

The Acting Lord Mayor said the new approach delivers the back-of-house facilities traders have requested while limiting shed removal and minimising disruption to market trade during renewal. The new market pavilion will ensure the market can continue to trade throughout renewal works by providing a temporary home for traders in Queen Street. Construction is expected to get underway in October 2017.

The Acting Lord Mayor said that the City of Melbourne recognises that with change comes uncertainty.

The trader support fund can be accessed by traders who meet certain eligibility criteria and can demonstrate that their businesses have been impacted by renewal.

“Council previously pledged that any business that can demonstrate its income has been impacted by renewal works would receive financial assistance,” the Acting Lord Mayor said. “However, we are confident that access to this fund will be modest as we strive to limit disruption and work closely with traders to understand their business needs.

“At its core, Queen Vic will remain a fresh produce, open air market and will retain its unique atmosphere, heritage and affordability.

“Our $250 million renewal program, the largest project in Council’s history, will secure the future of these small businesses for future generations and ensure Melbourne’s much-loved market can attract new traders and customers.”

Have YourSay – click here.

This Might Be The Best Free Advertising For Traders

How often do you notice customers walking into your stall with a mobile phone in their hand? 

Many of them will use those mobiles to search for businesses or goods and you can be part of that search with a Google web presence - when customers search, your business shows up. 

Setting up a web presence can be very simple, it is generally free, and Google has some great tools to assist you.

QVM is compiling a set-up guide to assist traders but in the meantime Google are actually holding a morning session this Friday at Federation Square to discuss their options. If you can get a break from the market it may be worth attending. Following is the blurb from Google.

Let's grow your business

Join us at the Digital Garage in Melbourne CBD

Google in partnership with the Digital Innovation Festival Victoria would like to invite you to join us for a free breakfast training event, in Melbourne at ZINC Federation Square on the morning of Friday 25th August.

The free training will cover the practical steps you can take to help put your business on Google Maps & Search and be found online by new customers. We'll also share insights about how the growth of mobile devices is shaping consumer behaviour and what businesses need to do to respond to these changes. You'll also hear from local business owners who have successfully used the internet to grow their businesses.

Attendance is free and breakfast will be provided - now all we need is you.

Latest Retail News – 20/8/2017

Latest Retail News – 20/8/2017

1.     Online Retailer Kogan has reported bumper revenue growth – up 37% on last year.

2.     David Jones is to cut its food lines from 14,500 to 8,500 with some 70% to be private label.

3.     Home Consortium to open 10 refurbished Masters sites as multi tenant shopping centres.

4.     Dominos Pizza misses its profit target.

5.     Harbour Town centre in Docklands to get $150m makeover and re-branding with H&M one of the first to sign up.

6.     US Retailer quarterly reports not as bad as expected.

7.     Country Road opens first menswear pop-up at Sydney Airport.

8.     Westfields half-year profit up 20%.

9.     Analysts expect Coles to lose ground to Woolworths.

10.                        Australian shopping centre vacancy rates on the rise.

11.                        JB HiFi reports 38% online sales growth.

12.                        Adairs reports double digit sales rise.

13.                        Lindt opens new chocolate store in Perth.

More News Briefs:

Walmart is taking a leaf out of Amazon’s book and making better use of its huge database of customer buying information. Walmart is now offering a full range of options for advertisers, including display placements, programmatic ads (those placed by an automated exchange), native ads (sponsored product listings that a given brand pays to make more prominent), and physical in-store ads.

Cardboard Billionaire Anthony Pratt, son of Queen Victoria Market Customer, Richard Pratt, is revelling in the growth of Amazon and all the cardboard boxes it requires to ship goods to customers.

Wesfarmers Reports Coles, Target, Bunnings, Officeworks Results - https://www.insideretail.com.au/blog/2017/08/17/wesfarmers-lifts-profit-despite-coles-bunnings-uk-slumps/

QVM In The News - 20/8/2017

NEWS
	'Urban Innovation District': Melbourne Gets Its Own Silicon Valley progrss (press release) (blog) The New Academic Street transformation will be finalized next month at a cost of $220 million, followed by the renewal of the Queen Victoria Market ...

NEWS
	Winter Night Market Extended Following Record-Breaking Turnout Broadsheet Melburnians, you've proved nothing will stop you in the hunt for good food –even the depths of winter. Attendance rates at Queen Victoria Market's ... Flag as irrelevant
	Melbourne's new tech district to promote innovation Herald Sun It covers the universities, state library, Queen Victoria Market and the Melbourne Museum. It is also home to a hi-tech lab that is “building body parts”.

Heard Under The Sheds – 20/8/2017

Watch What You Say – apparently police were called to the market during the week after someone threatened to “shoot someone.” The person venting turned out to be a trader who was unhappy with some aspect of QVM operations but the listener didn’t know that and took the threat seriously. In these troubled global times it pays to watch your language.

Invoicing Dilemma – a trader has complained that one side effect of the new digital invoicing system is that we no longer have immediate feedback of account discrepancies. A cashier used to be able to confirm whether your payment agreed with the system immediately, but now we don’t find out until weeks later when memory of the event has faded.

New Proposal For Underground – apparently the renewal team is considering a variation to construction under A,B,C, and D sheds that will allow ongoing trading at the Queen St. end of those sheds. The aim is to create a viable retail environment linking with the temporary pavilion and keep disruption to a minimum.

Pavilion Opportunity For GM – we understand that as part of the new trading proposal on Queen St. there may be opportunities for General Merchandise Traders in the temporary pavilion. Traders who are interested in pavilion trading will be invited to submit an Expression of Interest. We assume that opportunities will only be available to 5 day traders and we hear that participants may be asked to embrace extended trading. More details at Thursday's Trader Information Session.

Where Are The Football Fans? – a number of traders are complaining that with only one interstate team playing in Melbourne this weekend (Brisbane) we are suffering unusually small crowds.

Trader Strike – a trader proposed this week that traders should strike for no change at our market. When questioned, he did agree that change was necessary, but still felt a strike was a good idea.

Forget The Past –a gem from one of our more pragmatic traders – “Don’t tell me what used to happen here, because we are in a time of extreme change, and last year has no relevance to today.”

Ex City Councillor Stephen Mayne went to Monday night’s alternative renewal proposal meeting and published some photos which helped resolve a dispute over how many attended. The photos show around 150 attendees including approximately 50 traders.  The group made a presentation to City Council the following evening and apparently the Lord Mayor’s response was “Thank you for your passion and work. We are set on a particular track and I wouldn’t want to give you hope that we will deviate from 5 years of very hard work”.

Trader Xenia (Sonia) has marked one year since her stroke with a promise to continue her recovery and become more physically active over the next 12 months.

A customer (and ex-trader) stated that walking through the Dairy Hall at 1:00pm on Saturday they experienced the smallest crowd they could remember and they wondered whether the Barcelona terrorist attack had an impact.

Bollards have been installed at the top of J Shed during trading hours. (see separate article)

Have Your Say - click here.

Celebrating Market Employees

Trader Andy from Vic Market Gifts posted this wonderful photo of he and Raymond on facebook recently. Raymond has worked in Andy's business for 25 years which could be some sort of record. 
If you have a long term employee you would like to feature on these pages please send us a photo with details.
In his facebook post, Andy quipped that not much had changed in 25 years, except the grey hair.

Have Your Say - click here.

Protecting Crowds At QVM

Fridays terrorist attack in Barcelona has once again highlighted the vulnerability of crowds of people in public places.

Barcelona is well known to traders because it is a city full of markets although this attack took place on a public street.

QVM Management reacted immediately with a review of concrete bollard placement in Queen St. on Friday and the installation of steel bollards at the top of J shed on Saturday as an extra measure. We understand that additional security staff were also called in.

Protecting a commercial environment will always have compromises as we ensure that normal business activity takes place while providing adequate security. The positioning of bollards in other areas of the market including the top of pedestrian aisles that lead on to Peel St. will no doubt be considered and may impact on trader operations in some way.

In the meantime, the Federal Government has announced a plan to protect Australians in crowded public place. Details including advice and tools for venue operators are expected to be released shortly.

Have Your Say – click here.

Translating Trader-speak.

Australians are well known for using phrases that outsiders may generally not understand. An example might be - “Fair suck of the sauce bottle” meaning getting a fair share.

On a similar vein, a trader has suggested that some things traders say actually mean something else and there is a common theme in his examples -

“Management need to advertise this market more”.

TRANSLATION: Business is bad.

“My neighbour is creeping over the line and his music is too loud.”

TRANSLATION: Business is really bad.

“I think it is time we extended our trading hours.”

TRANSLATION: Business is really, really bad.

HaveYour Say – click here.

Trader Experiments With Facebook Advertising.

Digital advertising is a pretty new field for many traders but fortunately there are ways of experimenting at little cost, as this example shows.

This trader has an established Facebook page for his business although it is fairly low key with only 100 or so friends. When he posts a photo of a new product he generally gets between 30 and 90 people looking at it. (Facebook tells you how many people are looking at your posts.)

When he decided to advertise (Father’s Day was around the corner) the process was quite simple. He posted a product photo and a short description linking the product to Fathers Day. Once the post appeared he simply clicked on a “Boost Post” button, selected the geographic area he wanted to advertise in (in this case, Victoria), the age group of his intended audience, and the interest groups he wanted to target. He initially selected a three day campaign and later increased it to five. All options are very flexible. The option he chose guaranteed exposure to at least 1350 people.

At the end of the 5 days his post had been seen by over 1500 people, he received 6 new post likes, one post share (which means a reader shared with all their Facebook friends), 125 post clicks (which he thinks means people looked at more of his business details) and one comment.

The sales results? Well, he just doesn't know, but he believes that by experimenting and perhaps introducing some feedback markers, he can get a better idea of actual results. Our new Marketing Manager, Marianne Mewett, has suggested that next time he targets female customers (the majority of his customers) for a more focused and cost efficient campaign.

The cost? A total of $11. Yes, the price of 3 coffees. It is definitely worth experimenting with some modern digital advertising. Elsewhere on Victraders we have an article about getting free google exposure and you might like to contact QVM marketing staff for further assistance on any aspect of digital advertising.

Have Your Say - click here.