Talking into the wind - Fremantle markets

Our research, data, statistics, evaluations and costly market advisers tell us blah, blah, blah. We must be right. We are the boss and this is a matter of autocratic rule, it must be that way, otherwise the little people would de-throne us!

Shop owners with decades of experience couldn’t possibly know about product demand, competitive pricing, stable long term profit, natural evolution, effective trading hours, customer preferences, demographics, product display or ‘The X Factor’ which was the key to the markets previous success. Least of all, the symbiotic relationship and personality of the whole.

If more than 150 business men and women got together and all had a say it would be anarchy and mayhem; they would form an association and try to influence or even disagree with us. They might even start wanting some of our profits to go into their own pockets.

Just take a look at that last association tried to argue:

Rents. We have had 2 evaluations and the massive price hikes are Fair.

Those 30 businesses that walked out chose to do so. Others are up for sale and not selling, many have decreased their stall size to a more affordable rate and we hear the whispers that many more are winding down but that will sort itself out. There are always others lining up to replace them. If they have to increase product costs to get by then that is just business. It is not our fault if customers stop buying and then stop coming. We expect more professional people will come in and replace them. Well, so far there is a severe downturn in interest but that could be the recession and we can offer new people cheap rents for a while to give them a start.

A Working group. The Council, Stallholder Representatives and Us - all getting together to discuss different points of view or negotiating and troubleshooting.

Well we tried that and it didn’t work. You can’t work anything out if 3 perspectives are considered. It’s our market and we do things our way. What would shop-keepers know about rent? It’s about rent not retail!

Air-conditioning. For years now they have complained that it’s too hot in summer (40C) and too cold in winter (Gale force winds and rain)

Well we have said it is a matter of priority and we will get to it. We painted the roof didn’t we? They don’t understand all of the complications and costs involved. All they moan about is people feeling sick and losing on average 2 months trade each year.

Trading Hours. That’s a no brainer for us; extra days guarantee extra rent. 5 days rent is obviously greater than 3. We can double OUR profits by doubling the rent and then double that again by doubling the days of trade.

They are so negative about this. All they say is that no one shops at the markets during the week. We believe that if we open then the people will come. They all sit there reading books and falling asleep and whinging to each other. It’s this kind of negativity that is the real problem. We tried opening on Wednesday and it was a huge flop because they wouldn’t give it a fair go. We opened on Thursdays and they all whinged about paying rent out of their own pockets. It’s just the negativity and resistance to change that is the real problem.

Redevelopment. Separate the market into 2 areas. Food is the way of the future and our outdoor area can be a food Mecca in Freo.

I can’t even comment on this again it’s just too obvious. Read about the wise old King Solomon – just go ahead and cut the baby in half.

Leases. People are happy to sign our leases. These are private contracts and should not be discussed in the public arena.

Lease? Leasing agreements? What exactly are these costly documents? Secure tenure? Month to month tenancy? rules and regulations?

Run – don’t walk; straight to your legal advisor.

Evictions. We had to evict the spokespeople of the association – they were troublemakers.

They were ‘troublemakers’. They argued about the rents, held discussions with the Fremantle Council, wrote letters of complaint and even had a public rally calling for our eviction. They have spoken with the media and there have been many articles about stallholders losing their livelihoods, our intimidation, questionable outgoing expenses and our ability to communicate with them.

We bought Ann in to meet with them but when she said she didn’t want to hear about their problems or criticisms they froze her out. When she met with the spokespeople all they wanted to talk about were leases, evictions, relocations and the bloody rents again.

We only wanted to address the problems of the bus stop, cigarette butts and products made in China. The meeting was a waste of time. Like Annie says, they don’t respect us.

All of this is just another outline of issues already addressed by the stallholders association. I’m talking into the wind. The irony is that if the Murdoch’s will pay out a lot of money to professional researchers when all of this is information is freely available to them. It’s not what they want to hear and it’s not from the source they wish to hear it from.

I am offering this with the best of intention and with the hope that an open mind can comprehend it. I can even make it really, really simple.

Affordable rents.
Secure tenure.
Safe and suitable environment.
Respectful communication.
Clear definition about what a market is.
Appropriate trading hours.
Unity.
Win-Win for all party’s.

*Buy stalls back - If YOU want possession.


Sonya Green blogspot.
http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com

Trust me - would I lie to you?

I have just gone through a letter to the stallholders, written in 2005 by the Murdoch's, asking for help in securing their new lease with the council. I held it up in front of a mirror just to see if it read in reverse!
No wonder so many people feel betrayed. Just for fun, go through it with a red pen and circle the BS.

5th Dec 2005

Dear Stallholder,

FUTURE of FREMANTLE MARKETS

As many of you will be aware, we have put to the City of Fremantle a proposal whereby we fund a number of improvements to the Fremantle Market building (owned by the City of Fremantle) including:

Cooling the building (an urgent issue)
A new electricity system (an urgent issue) and
New signage on the exterior of the building.

We also have a number of other ideas to revitalise the Fremantle Markets business and to keep it West Australia’s premier tourist attraction which we would be keen to explore and implement.

It is not financially viable for us to fund the above improvements (and any other future necessary improvements) under the current head lease which has less than 5 years to run. Accordingly we have asked the City of Fremantle to enter into a new long term lease with us we believe will benefit the Fremantle Markets as a whole and Fremantle in general.

We consider the Fremantle Market business important to us, to stallholders and to Fremantle. Like many of you, we have spent 30 years working to make the business a success and would like to continue.

We believe our business model in trying to keep the Fremantle Markets a relatively low cost environment for small operators like you is the key to long term viability of the business. Integral to this business model is long term tenure (for all of us)

In short, the positives for the business plan being adopted by the City of Fremantle are:

Capital improvements being carried out as soon as possible;
Continuation under same operators who have an understanding of what makes the business a success and what is needed to continue its viability long term;
New management (John and Jamie Murdoch) but in the same family;
Certainty and continuity of stallholders;
Possibility of longer tenure (written into licence agreement) for stallholders if Murdoch company has longer tenure.

Negatives to be considered should the City of Fremantle not approve this Business Plan include:

No improvements will be made to the building in relation to cooling and new electricity supply.
License fees will be higher. Current operators (Murdoch Company) will be forced to view the business as a 5 year cash flow and must assume that at the end of the lease that another operator may be appointed by the City of Fremantle. We cannot guarantee that the market will not change completely with a new operator clearing out all stalls and only replacing them with stallholders willing to pay the highest price.
Your current goodwill you have built up over a number of years or goodwill you have purchased from a previous stall owner will diminish in value as each month goes by and, at the end of 5 years, could be worth nil given the uncertainty of what the markets will be and who will operate them and how they will operate them.
Your ability to sell your stall in the next 5 years will also diminish (along with its value) as who would buy a stall which could for all intents and purposes disappear in less than 5 years give Murdoch company cannot guarantee the Market will be here or who will run it and how in 5 years time.

If you believe the Business Plan should be adopted by the City of Fremantle, we strongly urge you as individuals or as a group to let the City of Fremantle know as soon as possible your support by writing or emailing (and marked as “Fremantle Markets Business Plan Submission”) and addressed to: …

We urge you to consider this letter carefully as the future of the Fremantle Markets as we know it today could be a thing of the past.

(Signed John and Jamie Murdoch)

http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com/