Dandenong Christmas: How traders are dealing with Christmas in the country’s most multicultural suburb
Dandenong traders are in for a mixed bag this festive season, with some predicting bumper sales while others fear anti-social behaviour is keeping people away.
South East
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In the country’s most multicultural suburb, Christmas isn’t a widely celebrated holiday.
Despite the council spending $210,000 on Christmas decorations this year, the festive season can be a bit hit and miss for Dandenong traders
Leader spoke to workers in the heart of Dandenong to get a sense of how businesses are preparing for the holiday period — and the results were a mixed bag.
Opposite the Dandenong Plaza, Brandon Tang, from Love Party & Confectionary Supplies, said its Christmas trading hadn’t kicked off yet.
Mr Tang said there was a huge problem with people drinking, leaving rubbish and even defecating in the street which had turned customers off.
“The council need to do something about it because we are losing business,” he said.
The problem has been getting progressively worse for a couple of years and now the strip has boarded up shops and damaged glass which, Mr Tang said, deterred customers.
“I think Dandenong Plaza is doing better but not the street shops,” he said.
“With Dandenong Hub and Princes Highway, there’s not enough businesses trading here and it’s not very attractive for the customers.”
The party supply business hasn’t seen a steady stream of Christmas shoppers yet, but Mr Tang was hoping it would gradually pick up.
“People still need their birthday, wedding or Christmas supplies and so I hope in the next week it will get busier,” he said.
It was another story around the corner at Rob’s British Butcher, which has had a bumper Christmas period.
Robert Boyle said this year was on track to surpass last year’s sales despite a slow start due to the state election.
“We’re about 15 up from the orders of last year which was a record year, so I’m looking for a big Christmas and I think that’s the way it’s going to go,” he said.
Mr Boyle said he’s got a busy couple of weeks ahead of him and forecasts he’ll be making about 2000 pork pies and up to 400 hams.
With about 70 per cent of its customers originally from theUK, the butcher serves traditional dishes such as black pudding, English sausages and speciality confectionery.
In the days leading up to December 25, punters are forced queue up to get their hands on the British fare with the line snaking down to AB Bakery — about 100m away — and, Mr Boyle said, some people have an annual tradition of meeting in the line.
“Some people line up just to see the people they met in the line last year,” Mr Boyle said.
With 80 per cent of the Dandenong population non-Christian, Vinnies manager Christina Hagau said the store doesn’t do much to celebrate the holiday.
“There has been no difference compared to other days, it’s the same from last year and the year before and the year before that,” she said.
“We don’t do much to celebrate the traditional Christian Christmas.”
Occasionally the shop will stock Christmas ornaments and crockery which sell quickly, but apart from that it’s business as usual.
