Salamanca stallholder: Please don’t decimate my market family

Huge rent hikes will threaten the livelihood of artists who make the Salamanca Market so special, stallholders say

Stallholders are upset about the proposed hikes in stall site fees at Salamanca Market in Hobart.

A contingent of Salamanca Market Stallholders Association members concerned about the proposed hike in stallholder rents, recently had the opportunity to give short, three-minute, presentations to a full meeting of the Hobart City Council. Here are their words.

Salamanca Market stallholders from left, Jennifer Hoy, Emma Hope and Nadia Tanase, who are upset about the proposed hike in stall site fees at the weekly. Picture Matthew: Growcott

JENNIFER HOY

SMSA MEMBER

My name is Jennifer Hoy, trading as Manning jewellery, at site 148. I’m a small-business owner and make everything I sell at the market. I create unique and quality jewellery that visitors don’t see anywhere else. I love what I do and I love the vibrancy of Salamanca Market.

I am, however, very concerned about the impact of the Hobart City Council’s proposed draft agreement including site fee increases. My business margins are already thin and over the past year I’ve seen the cost of most of my raw materials double. I’ve avoided passing on these costs to my customers because customers aren’t buying as much as they used to.

The increased cost of living is affecting everyone. I don’t expect the council or anyone else to prop up my business, but I do think site fee increases should be reasonable. I think future stall fee increases should be indexed to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and capped at 10 per cent a year.

Salamanca Market Stallholders Association member Jennifer Hoy

I’m concerned about the lack of consultation on the draft agreement and valuers report. Despite recent media claims by a councillor that a full briefing was provided to the Salamanca Market Stallholders Association, what they failed to say was that council only briefed the SMSA committee which has nine stallholders on it. According to my information, council then requested the committee members not to share the information with myself and the rest of the 300 stallholders. This resulted in stallholder uncertainty and is inconsistent with council’s community engagement framework.

As site fees fund market operations, I recommend an addition to the draft agreement where council must provide stallholders with an annual financial statement which itemises what site fees are used for, including wages of market crew and office staff; arts and entertainment; administration, vehicles and machinery, and any activities that support government initiatives.

● My request for accountability and transparency is consistent with the “Our Mission” statement in the council’s annual plan.

Council should also demonstrate to stallholders that site fees are being used efficiently and appropriately.

The draft agreement contains several clauses which I consider unfair and highly favourable for council. Clause 56 allows council to change the size and location of our sites and that we may not make any claim for compensation.

I should clarify that I’m only talking about council controlled activities and not actions in response to pandemics or extreme weather. As a stallholder it’s reasonable to expect consultation on matters affecting my business and that any reasonable claims for compensation should not be dismissed out of hand.

I recommend that management renegotiate with stallholders to revise proposed site fees and terms of the draft agreement.

I would like a five-year licence because it provides business certainty.

I’m a small-scale maker and I provide unique handcrafted goods that make Salamanca attractive to visitors. The way it’s headed though is that craftspeople won’t be able to afford to trade and you’ll be left with big brand generic stallholders who sell their goods everywhere.

Salamanca Market Stallholders Association vice president Nadia Tanase

NADIA TANASE

SMSA VICE PRESIDENT

My name is Nadia Tanase and I own the Simone and Co concrete, leather and native Tasmanian timber homewares stall, situated at site 229 alongside my family.

Prior to owning my stall, I was a casual trader at the market for several years – it wasn’t always smooth sailing. On my first day, I only sold $108 gross, it was a disaster! I quickly re-evaluated and within weeks I was making regular trades, just enough for my husband and I to commit full time – at $1000 gross sales a week on average. That’s a lot less than minimum wage for two adults.

We had a kid to support, but we were frugal and made it work – I was still working a casual job – eventually in 2018, long after I’d quit my casual work – we had done the maths and felt confident in adding a second child to the mix.

Nugget (my daughter’s nickname) was born on the Wednesday, and even when she was just three days of age, she came along with me to the market while I set the tent up for a full days trade. There’s no time off when the margins are so small.

My highest selling product is a concrete Tassie-shaped magnet. Prior to Covid I was buying the magnet for 30c to glue on to the back of what I had crafted – after Covid and with the war in Ukraine that same magnet is $2.77. I can’t pass on those costs, as there’s only so much a customer is willing to pay for a magnet.

I know the Hobart City Council has rising costs, but many of these are chosen extras. Puppy parking, Salamanca Sounds, puppets – sure in theory they create a nice atmosphere, but in practice, puppets push the crowd forward and draw customers away from my site.

Small artist businesses have small working margins. We are a luxury product in a time when people can only afford necessities. Record numbers of stalls are for sale, some in danger of being taken back by the council if they have not sold soon enough. The unique artists of Salamanca are the makers of magic you see when you walk the cobbled streets. We won’t exist in five years, instead it will only be large scale producers, food and alcohol – a weekly Taste of Tasmania. I’m asking for you cap raising fees to CPI – with a maximum raise of 10 per cent.

Please also consider merchandising. You own the copyright to the Salamanca Market branding. Every other tourist attraction in Australia capitalises on their branding.

I’m constantly asked if you can buy a T-shirt with Salamanca on it, keep cups to reduce wastage and other items, which I’m sure would be big sellers and help promote the brand. But please don’t use our site fees to hire a consultant: you have artists left, right and centre.

Salamanca Market Stallholders Association president Emma Hope

EMMA HOPE

SMSA PRESIDENT

My name is Emma Hope and I grew up at the market and my late mum Sue was an original stallholder and long-time president.

I am concerned about the impact doubling our rent and imposing more regulations will have on my business, my fellow stallholders and the institution that is Salamanca Market.

So how did we get here? Let’s start with the process – throughout the negotiations, I believe there has been a complete lack of transparency, absence of consultation and to an extent even a veil of secrecy.

In my opinion, the valuation report the site fee increase is based on is particularly flawed. Not to mention the fact that ordinary stallholders have not been privy to laying eyes on it. We don’t know the terms of reference for the valuation but we do know it did not look at trade conditions, stallholder sentiment or any other measurables you would expect to see in a reasonable valuation. What it did look at was a site visit during peak season, and a comparison of market rents from around Australia. We’re not the Rocks Market in Sydney, we don’t get their foot traffic. By the end of this five-year licence our site fees will be up there with the Rocks – and more expensive than many other markets from around Australia.

On transparency, stallholders have no oversight of the revenue and expenditure of the market, despite repeatedly requesting it. We would like to know where our money is being spent so we can evaluate whether it is being used efficiently.

If you read the notes from a workshops held in lieu of consultation, it says:

“It was shared with the group that the market currently pays for itself ie, revenues match with expenses, and most expenses are fixed. If stallholders would like to see more services, revenues may need to increase.”

I think few stallholders would want an increase in services if they knew it was at the expense of doubling their rent.

Elected members have talked about the additional funds raised by fee increases allowing the market to “develop”. To them I would say that over its 50-year history it has naturally evolved into something stallholders can be proud of. The old saying ‘if it ain’t broke …” rings so true. Talk of increasing the spend on activations is misguided. These are too often an expensive distraction. At the end of the day no one is coming to Salamanca to see puppets, they’re coming for the stalls. particularly those who lovingly hand make jewellery, ceramics, woodwork, clothing and more.

These are also the stalls that won’t survive a rent hike. Due to increasing cost of materials and the time and care required to produce their art they have slim margins.

Many of those now sitting on council stood up at the stallholder association’s election forum and pledged to support stallholders. But some have now indicated they will vote for our rents to double and rigid conditions to be imposed. I implore them to reconsider.

But more than doing it for political reasons, please remember that on top of being the sole income of so many families and a launchpad for innovative businesses, that Salamanca Market is the creative and economic heart of Hobart. Please don’t risk destroying something that means so much to so many. I’ve already lost my mum. I recently lost my brother, who also grew up at the market. Please don’t decimate my market family.