Adelaide Central Market to open on Sundays for certain traders in six-month trial
For the first time, the Adelaide Central Market will open every Sunday for half of this year. But only some of the traders are on board with the change.
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The Adelaide Central Market will open on Sundays for a six-month trial beginning on March 22. Twenty-one of the market’s 76 stalls have signed on to open from 8am-3pm, before supermarkets and other retailers begin the day.
The market’s general manager, Jodie Kannane stressed the trial is not compulsory for traders.
“Although not all stallholders are choosing to open on Sundays, the market will still have a range of produce available from all trader categories,” Ms Kannane said.
The early start will give working families a chance to do their fresh food shopping, she said, while supermarkets were still closed.
“Customers will be able to fill their baskets with fresh fruit and veg, meat, bread, specialty goods, cheese and enjoy a coffee or meal,” she said.
A legal loophole allows the market traders to open without restriction. Large shops, over 400sq m, are limited to opening between 11am-5pm on Sundays.
Treasurer Rob Lucas confirmed that market stalls, as individual traders, can “do whatever they want. And good luck to them,” he said.
“If a trader wants to trade, and a shopper wants to shop and a worker wants to work, why should our crazy retail laws stop them?”
Ms Kannane said while not all stallholders were on board, a core group were keen.
“They could see that customer shopping habits have significantly changed over the time; there is a new and different market that we aren’t open for – working families don’t have the opportunity to come in during our current core hours,” she said.
Ms Kannane said the market’s official hours remain Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and optional trading on Wednesdays. Adelaide Central Market Authority legislation requires that a 75 per cent majority of stallholders must approve before core hours can be changed.
She said they will be holding regular meetings with the traders during the trial to share insights and assess it.
“We are still keen to work with traders to get hours that are more suited to customer needs and get them aligned but obviously that conversation will depend on the traders,” she said.
The 151-year-old market has only occasionally opened on Sundays – before Christmas and Easter.
The City of Adelaide has backed the move, and Lord Mayor Sandy Vershoor said it will provide a new incentive to visit the city on a Sunday.
The weekly farmers’ market in Wayville is not expecting to take a sustained hit from the Central Market’s Sunday mornings.
On the edge of the city, the Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market only opens on Sunday mornings, attracting 3000 to 5000 shoppers every week. Around 65 per cent of them pay $70 a year to be members.
Christine Robertson, executive officer of the farmers’ market, said the markets were very different. The farmers’ market only stocks South Australian produce.
“When you buy a product you are buying it from the person who grows it, raises it, bakes it or makes it. That’s what most of our customers come for,” Ms Robertson said.
The Shop, Distributive and Allied workers union declined to comment, saying the market stalls had always had the ability to trade on Sundays if they wanted.
Coles, which has a large supermarket next to the Central Market, has been approached for comment.
This is the full list of Central Market stallholders open on Sundays from March 22.