Queen Victoria Market pushes to open later in retail shake-up but traders not all on board

A bold plan to shake up the opening hours of the Queen Victoria Market has been slammed by traders who say they don’t want longer opening hours despite customer demand.

Queen Victoria Market will be open till 5pm on weekends under the plan.

A proposal to alter the trading hours at Queen Victoria Market — the first change in about 20 years — has angered stallholders.

Under the plan, the city council-owned market would open an hour later at 7am, except Sundays, and stay open longer at weekends until 5pm.

The market currently shuts at 3pm on Saturday and 4pm Sunday.

Queen Victoria Market on a Saturday morning. Picture: Tony Gough

QVM chief executive Stan Liacos flagged a shake-up of hours and operations last year and said the latest proposal was in demand to changing shopping habits.

“It’s confusing now because we’re open at different hours on different days. This plan is about smoothing the hours out and making it easier for customers.’’

Mr Liacos acknowledged that some stallholders supported the idea, but others didn’t.

“Feedback from traders has been unsurprisingly mixed,’’ he said.

Trader Leah Moore said a survey found that more than 95 per cent of stallholders did not want the 5pm finish on weekends.

Queen Vic Market CEO — Stan Liacos

Trader Leah Moore.

“We all have families and it cuts into our family time. If you shut at 5pm, you are closing up till 6pm and not getting home till much later and then often to prepare for the next market day,’’ Ms Moore said.

“It’s just too long a day. Many of the fruit and veg guys are up at 3 or 4am anyway to get to the wholesale markets — that’s what a fresh produce market is.’’

Mr Liacos said he hoped to implement the new hours by late October after a period of trader feedback. The hours would be reviewed after a year, he said.

Current trading hours at the Queen Victoria Market.

Proposed new times for Queen Victoria Market.

“We’ve already done market research with customers and they have said they want the market to be open later.’’

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A survey in March of more than 400 Melburnians who live, work or study within a 10km radius of the market found that one in three current visitors would be more likely to visit if trading hours were extended to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.

One in five people who do not visit the market would be more likely to visit during extended weekend hours, the survey said.

Traders spokesman Hanen Mark said most stallholders were confused about the market’s retail strategy.

“I don’t know what the business plan is and where we stand in terms of the future of the market.’’

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@IanRoyall