Prahran Market losing money, new figures show, as traders talk about future fears

PRAHRAN Market is haemorrhaging money, with figures showing it didn’t make a profit last year. Traders fear for the popular site’s future, speaking out about increasing rents, fewer customers and falling sales.

Prahran Market didn’t make a profit last year, according to figures from Stonnington Council. Picture: Sarah Matray

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PRAHRAN Market is haemorrhaging money, plummeting from a $829,000 profit in 2011 to a $24,000 loss last year.

The unaudited figures come from Stonnington Council’s annual report — and traders say they paint a terrifying picture for the market’s viability.

Current trader Chris, who declined to have his real name published, thought new management should be brought in to save the market.

Records show the market has made dramatic year-on-year profit falls since 2011, with profits tumbling $853,000 in about six years.

Christopher Young was appointed as general manager in 2011.

Traders fear for the market’s viability. Picture: Sarah Matray

The Leader recently visited the market to speak with traders. Almost all the traders we spoke to agreed to talk only on condition of anonymity.

All but one complained of a lack of foot traffic, falling sales and ever-increasing rents.

Many said they felt money had been wasted in recent years to revamp the Harvest Hall and introduce tables and seating, and worried the large number of vacant shops made the market less attractive.

Some raised questions about a business trip management took overseas at the market’s expense.

Former trader George Zervides, who operated the Health Bowl cafe in the market’s Harvest Hall until December, said many stallholders were afraid to speak up publicly in case their leases weren’t renewed.

He said the culture and morale at the market was at an all-time low, and he questioned management’s performance, given the market’s rapidly falling profits.

A letter sent to traders by Prahran Market management, also seen by the Leader, in May the same year announced Mr Young had been appointed as the new general manager.

Mr Zervides called on the council to step in as the market’s owner and resolve the issues.

He said his own lease, which expired last December, wasn’t renewed.

He said his business had been popular and there was no reason it should have been forced to close.

There are several complaints on the market’s Facebook page about the Health Bowl’s closure. Some saying they’d now shop elsewhere, and one, Mia Moore, wrote that she felt management had been “systematically destroying the market for years”.

Another shopper, Lynne Williamson, wrote this month that the number of vacant shops at the market was “a red flag”.

Board chairman Ian Webb said the Health Bowl’s lease wasn’t renewed because the market wanted to redevelop the space and their was “no animosity” on the market’s part.

He also said there were plans to redevelop many of the vacant spaces at the market and “true vacancies” were “very rare”.

Sophia Dickson closed her long-running market stall, Fresh Cut Flowers, in 2015. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

He said Mr Young was sent on an expenses-paid trip to an international public market conference in Barcelona in March 2015.

Mr Young gave a presentation to the board and the council when he returned, Mr Webb said, and staff from the Queen Victoria Market and Dandenong Market also attended the conference.

Late last year, the Leader reported former trader Angelo Polydoras, who owned the Cheese Shop Deli for 13 years, said he had trouble selling his business because the market “has got a reputation for not being a good place to be”.

And Pam Wilson, who co-owned Rumbles for more than a decade, said it was well-known that if traders spoke up, they would face repercussions from management.

In 2015 the leader reported one of the market’s longest-running stalls, Fresh Cut Flowers, closed following a long-running dispute with management because its lease was not renewed.

The owner of the business, Michael Dickson, had been the spokesman for other stallholders at the market who were unhappy with its notoriously congested Elizabeth St carpark.

Paul Hatzistamatis, owner of Whisked, was the only trader approached by the Leader last week who said his business had gone from strength to strength.

Traders the paper has spoken to in the past at the market’s request also said they had no complaints about market management and their businesses were doing well.

George Zervides and Leah Tolongou at their Prahran Market cafe, Health Bowl, which closed in December. Picture: Penny Stephens

The market’s board has previously said the number of visitors at the market had increased by 20 per cent since 2011, and Mr Webb said Mr Young had his full confidence.

But traders the Leader spoke to last week disputed the door count figure, and pointed out it was not an indicator of how many people were spending money as opposed to just passing through to get to Chapel St.

Mr Webb said the $24,000 deficit figure last financial year was “incorrect” because the market had also made a further $5000 profit that was not recorded.

When questioned about the remaining shortfall of $19,000, Mr Webb said that was “splitting hairs”, and the unaudited figures did not include capital investment spending.

He said the market, as a community business, was a “break even or better exercise” and its success could not be judged as if it were a big company.

“Although governed by normal business principles, Prahran Market Pty Ltd is not solely profit-driven,” Mr Webb said.

Tasting time at the market.

He also said “a market is a pretty turbulent place” where “traders come and go, they rise and fall”, but he liked to think most were happy at Prahran Market.

The market has spent more than $5 million on upgrades in recent years, including reflooring the Harvest Hall, renovations to tenancy areas, refurbishing the market’s facade, and creating a waste recycling facility.

Both the council and the market were not able to provide audited figures for the market’s earnings.

Council chief executive Warren Roberts referred all questions to the market’s board.