Author: Mark Fletcher

From ABC News Thursday:

Danni Hunter from the Property Council, an advocacy group for property developers and owners, said CBD hospitality and retail businesses relied on office workers being in the city.

“We can’t have an economic recovery without a CBD recovery, and that relies heavily on people having the courage and willingness to come back to the office, and hopefully soon without masks as well,” she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

What selfish, self-serving ignorant nonsense from Danni Hunter … but on point for what the folks at the Property Council wold want said.

No CBD in Australia is key to economic recovery.

Danni Hunter and her Property Council mates need too spend time on the high street and non regional and rural Australia. there, they will find terrific economic activity bring income home to local communities, new jobs being created and healthier local communities as a result.

What frustrated me about the ABC report is that Danni Hunter from the Property Council was not challenged. No principles of journalism were applied to the claim, the nonsense claim.

As I have written here plenty of times, small business, particularly high street, regional and rural small business are the economic heart of Australia. They contribute more value than a CBD based landlord. While P&L and Balance Sheet numbers for a Property Council member business equal many, maybe hundreds, of small retail businesses, I suspect that a close study would reveal the economic value in terms of job creation, community investment and taxes paid per dollar earned are higher in small retail businesses.

I get that lobbyists like Danni Hunter and lobby organisations like the Property Council need to do their selfish bidding. We however, do not need to buy into this. I certainly don’t.

Let me change gears here though, and consider this issue of the importance of the CBD from the context of an office based business owner …

Thinking about this as the owner of a software company with a mid-size office and talking with other business owners in similar situations – the CBD has lost its appeal to us and to many who work in offices. Employees are loving working from love, the hours saved each day, being closer to family. They have more money in their pocket. Lockdown has shown them that the trudge to the city CBD or to an office in the suburbs is not as important as it used to be. Businesses are happy with happier people. Businesses are happy, too, at the prospect of saving on office costs.

Danni Hunter and the Property Council must be scared that their businesses will be harmed because things will not snap back to where they were, because not everyone will return to the CBD. Who cares? Change is something we all have to deal with in business.

I guess my core point here is with the reporting – it needs to be more balanced and not merely publishing propaganda from the likes of the Property Council.

On Insiders this morning on ABC TV, James Campbell from the Herald Sun worried with all his might that the Melbourne CBD may not come back. he went on to say the the CBD was the “engine room” of the Victorian economy.

The melodrama was laughable.

CBDs have been fading in relevance for years, before Covid. The shop local movement has had an impact. Federal and state government region al policies have had an impact.

Campbell’s comments re the CBD were ignorant, but on point for what we see from the Murdoch press.

The thing is, regional, rural and suburban high street shopping is better in Australia now than for decades. Shoppers are spoilt for local choice.

Shopping is easy and safe, too.

People like this. Local shoppers like it. Local shopkeepers like it. Local makers like it.

Local shopping is the engine room of retail in not only Victoria, but Australia.

But, if we are to believe Campbell, a strong Melbourne CBD is critical to economic success in Victoria. He needs to read more, and get out more. Melbourne CBD office workers who have been working from home and who have a choice to continue to work from home are more likely to choose to work from home … thereby transitioning Melbourne CBD shopping to local shopping.

I say this based on reporting recently on this very topic.

Most newsagents are in regional, rural and suburban high street situations. They are benefiting from people working, living and shopping locally. This is why many have had a good Covid and why many are having a terrific start to 2021.

It seems from what Campbell has said that he does not want that. It appears he would prefer the national chains in the Melbourne CBD to be doing better. Well, James Campbell, therein lies a problem. national chains, especially department stores, are a retail sector in trouble. Brands are going direct, cutting out the middle person department store.

For us, we need to keep doing what we have been doing – evolving our businesses in service of local shoppers with products sourced locally where possible, encouraging local makers and proving the circular value of local.

For me, I’ll ignore Campbell and his shouty pouty Murdoch colleagues. They are an ignorant and selfish lot. They do not serve Australia and Australians well when it comes to discourse on these topics.

I feel for retailers in the Melbourne CBD and all CBDs. However, the drift from big city shopping has been on for a while. This is not a new phenomenon.

There are many retailers who saw this years ago and adjusted their businesses accordingly. Those newsagents are doing well, which is great news. Sadly, we won’t see this as a news story as media outlets prefer the negative over the positive.

I have been to my shops today, to see first hand what this new Covid lockdown looks like for Valentine’s shopping.

The Westfield shopping centre car parks were 95% empty. despite our shop being the only card outlet open, trade has been okay but not flash.

On the high street, as you may expect, it has been a usual pre-Valentine’s Saturday – good sales, plenty of shoppers.

Talking with some other Melbourne newsagents today, their experience has been the same.

I suspect things will have been more normal in regional Victoria.

Following the model from last year and the situation, then, that saw retail newsagency businesses classed as essential, newsagency businesses in Victoria can be open over the next five days. Lottery kiosks and tobacconists cannot remain open. Now, for newsagents in Victoria  …

• Employees should have a permit provided by the business with them to and from work.
• Ensure you have ready access to masks for staff and customers.
• Hand sanitiser at the entrance to the store and at the counter.
• Sanitise the counter on both sides regularly.
• Pitch curbside pickup for shoppers.
• Offer local delivery for shoppers.
• Be positive on social media.
• Front of store product focus: games, jigsaws, candles, self care.