Talking shop

Where can you hear the Melbourne retail scene being discussed by a savvy journalist, a clever historian/author and two of Australia’s great retail gurus? The answer is at the State Library of Victoria’s ‘Melbourne: The Making of a Shopping Mecca’ discussion. Chaired by Jill Singer (journalist and Herald Sun columnist) the panel included Australian retail giants, Naomi Milgrom (Sussan Group CEO) and Stephen Bennett (Country Road founder) as well as author of ‘The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne’, Graeme Davison. The discussion was held in conjunction with the ‘til you drop’ exhibition at the State Library of Victoria which in on until 31st October 2010.

Cr Susan Riley, deputy lord mayor of Melbourne introduced the discussion, then Graeme Davison provided a brief historical summary of Melbourne retail and shopping. “The quality of our shopping life has a lot to do with our urban life” said Graeme. Melbourne’s retail history has resulted in a unique combination of shopping environments, including laneways, streets or ‘strips’ and suburban shopping centres. “Melbourne has seasonality and events that make us want to dress up” said Naomi. Seasons and varied shopping environments provide locals and tourists with great reasons to get out and spend money in Melbourne.

Whilst Melbourne has a comprehensive mix of different shopping environments, it is important that this balance is not disrupted. An example of this would be trying to replicate the laneways. Retailer’s initial attraction to the laneways, explains Stephen was cheaper rent, allowing smaller ‘start up companies’ to get a foothold in Melbourne retail. Replicating the laneways would result in increased rent, squeezing out the new/little guys. Naomi and Stephen also share a dislike of discount stores, especially in the middle of Melbourne. Naomi does not have any discount stores as she believes they do not provide a positive retail experience. “I don’t want to see a customer walk into a (Sussan) discount store and see a rack of pink pants at $9.95 – that’s just not the retail experience I want them to have” said Naomi.

“Men and women have different leisure pastimes these days and don’t shop together” said Naomi. Graeme believes it is a ‘boring experience’ walking into a store on the other side of the world and seeing the same brands, presentation, etc. Graeme thinks that shopping malls should have libraries, or other types of entertainment to occupy those that do not necessarily want to shop, but are reluctantly dragged along on shopping excursions.

The growth in popularity of gourmet food, local produce and organic fair has resulted in food markets becoming an integral party of cities, ie. London’s Borough Market. The panel all agreed that there is further opportunity for retail concepts in other parts of the community, such as wine regions. In an environment such as the Yarra Valley, for example, local crafts and fashion have an opportunity to emerge. This is almost a market or co-op environment where all businesses play off each other.

The discussion was then handed over to the audience for questions and comments. The audience were not shy, asking numerous questions and sharing their own personal retail stories with the panel. An anecdote of poor retail service from one audience member touched on the importance of quality staff in retail. This is an area that Naomi is passionate about and she is currently working closely with UTS and RMIT on programmes for retail training/recognition. Retailing has not been taken seriously or respected in the past as it does not require a university qualification. The main qualities that retail employees require at the moment said Naomi is a “passion and love of people”.

The effect the Internet has had on retail was also discussed. The panel believed that the Internet was a positive movement for retail. Naomi said that the internet equated to a medium size store for her and allowed her brands to constantly “talk” to their customers. She said that her customers responded well to “email blasts”.

The discussion moved onto the challenge of stock management for Australian retailers. The unique retail position of Australia means that businesses still need to meet the minimum order quantities when manufacturing in China, despite our smaller population, compared to European countries. “Australia has too many shops and too much choice” says Naomi. This means that businesses need to be clear about their markdown strategies, ensuring that each product has a “life” limit. This will ensure that stores are kept looking fresh and racks of sale items are reduced.

It is a unique and inspiring opportunity to be able to listen to these retail experts for over an hour. This event bodes well for the next discussion at the State Library of Victoria, ‘Fashioning Melbourne’ to be hosted by Janice Breen-Burns, fashion editor at the Age on Thursday 4th March.