Retailers meet to discuss River Traders

12 July 2013

Retailers meet to discuss River Traders

On Thursday 11 July Wanganui CBD retailers met at the cosy Rutland Arms early in the morning to discuss the River Traders market and whether or not Mainstreet Wanganui should instigate its own CBD based market.

At the meeting was Mayor Annette Main, Councillor Rob Vinsen, members of the Mainstreet executive and around twenty retailers. The first order of business was to present the results of a survey Mainstreet Wanganui undertook of its members with questions like ‘has the river traders market been good for your business or detrimental?’ And ‘If you could choose which day of the week the market was on which day would you prefer?’ Overwhelmingly the feedback at the meeting and in the survey was that the market by the river has been great for Wanganui and it should stay right where it is when it is.

Whether or not Mainstreet should organise its own market was less clear cut with some great ideas coming to the fore but less clarity around the practicalities of organising such a thing and who should drive it. What was clear though was that CBD retailers would like to see Wanganui being more welcoming of its visitors with better CBD signage to help visitors navigate visitor attractions on foot, better signage from the state highway to help visitors find the CBD more easily and better use of symbols on signage for non-English speakers. All agreed that signage was a real issue in our CBD and want to see it addressed.

Wanganui’s built heritage was also raised as a wonderful point of difference and visitor attraction. Retailers felt that this should be highlighted as a key visitor experience more. Also discussed were changing customer behaviours and the need to perhaps open later on a Saturday to accommodate these changes. While all chain stores are open on weekends many locally owned and operated businesses find this proposition a lot more difficult with falling sales and rising overheads it is not always possible to take on extra staff to cover additional shifts, however there is little doubt that a lack of Saturday afternoon and Sunday trading leaves Wanganui at a distinct disadvantage when competing with Palmerston North and the proliferation of online shopping.

Many positive ideas came out of the meeting and Mainstreet Wanganui has already begun implementing one with discussions underway to create new signage in the CBD.

For minutes of the meeting or the full survey results contact: www.mainstreetwanganui.co.nz

ENDS

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