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Retail Stories with A-P.com

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Introduction 

Hi my name is Zelman Ainsworth. Thanks for tuning in for another episode of ap tv. 

I am so honoured to have Lord Mayor Sally Capp again as a repeat guest just to talk through biggest priorities for 2022. And congratulations on getting us to 2022 under your leadership and direction and you're just boundless confidence and optimistic. It was incredible how you kind of maintained that for such a long time, but thank you very much as leading us through this and getting us to this point of new fresh growth and opportunities.

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp] Thank you Zelman and it has been a tough time and there's no doubt that some of the devastation continues because we're in times of uncertainty. But we held a function last week the Lord mayor's Commendations where we recognise small business owners who have been operating in the city for 10 15 25 40 years. It was really a night of celebration and so many of those business owners had tales to tell of the highs and lows of their retail experience in the city and definitely a sense of that enduring commitment to what it means to be a city trader. 

And it was a really great reminder for me about how special the city context is for retail what a great legacy.

[Zelman Ainsworth] : What a great legacy 

We made it to 2022 the sun is shining the birds are chirping everything the streets are full again and we're back in business somewhat.

What is your biggest priority now for the city of Melbourne?

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp] Well cities are about people and it really is still that focus on bringing more people back to our city streets. Pre COVID more than a million people would pulse through our streets every day and we're still missing some significant cohorts so the focus is on return of city workers to workplaces, it is on our international students returning, and then of course tourism. Once we have those components back in our daily population we can feel really confident. 

[Zelman Ainsworth]   You’ve been quite vocal about getting major employers to bring their employees back into the CBD. How's that message being received and is there any timelines you're working towards.

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp] Major employers like the city of Melbourne are absolutely impatient to be able to welcome their workers back. For so many of our major employers they've gone out of their way to create the most incredible working environments and particularly with COVID-Safe environments. We do know that workplaces teams the city really flourishes when we have people coming together. It's that sense of clustering, it's opportunity at scale, it's the serendipity and the spontaneity, the creativity that happens when people collide together, and that's something that major employers, the City of Melbourne and the state government more broadly are really looking forward to seeing again soon.

 [Zelman Ainsworth]   Any timelines we can expect to look forward towards?

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp]  well the discussions are going really well and we know that back to school has gone well so we're hoping back to workplace is next on the agenda the discussions with state government mean from our perspective that the return to workplace is impending. Two really big issues firstly is changing the work from home if you can advice, which has been completely influential it's not a mandate but completely influential on what major workplaces do,and the second one is what happens with masks in the workplace. 

We've been advocating that you don't have to wear a mask at your desk but masks as you move around and use common areas are acceptable. We hope that that really overcomes that barrier about wearing masks in the workplace

[Zelman Ainsworth]    The city is clearly unrecognizable today from what it was last year there's no doubt about that from a retail leasing perspective our business and our peers are seeing an enormous increase in inquiries from new to market tenants wanting to open in the CBD. Butt more interestingly existing businesses that want to expand and relocate within the city and that's very refreshing coming from last year. What in your mind what do you put that change in confidence too?

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp] Well we've definitely seen covert caution turn to covert confidence. I think definitely we are learning how to live with this virus, I think there's also a sense of transformation and renaissance about the city as well that happens after major shocks. And the levels of inquiry we've had are at record levels as well and we're absolutely delighted that people are seeing at this time of rebuild really as a time of opportunity. That's exciting. 

We see younger people we see first-time pop-ups inquiries we see entrepreneurs we see people really looking to use spaces for different purposes showcasing performance, for example and we are completely up for supporting all of those types of activities in our city. But there's definitely the excitement that comes with transformation and we're pleased about that.

[Zelman Ainsworth]  What can CBD retailers do retailers do to help drive more people back into the city quicker ?

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp] 

Well there are all sorts of things retailers can do. I think really making sure that their offer is something that it could be something that people have always loved about your business but there's definitely an expectation of something new from consumers as they come in. 

We saw that with the Christmas extravaganza - people came in for the traditional things they loved like the Meyer windows um seeing Santa but they really did expect new things which is why for example the zip line was basically sold out in record time. I think that that really then ripples down to that expectation as people come back to the city, and so we would be saying to retailers keep doing what you do best but just think about what might be something new or extraordinary to add into your presence, your offer, your service and it will be very well received by people as they return to the city

[Zelman Ainsworth]  Curbside dining has been a roaring success - how's that going to look for the rest of this year and is that something we can expect to see ongoing 

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp] Curbside dining is here to stay the parklets have been an amazing success story something we're very proud of at the City of Melbourne. Pre COVID  there are about 750 permits for people to dine on pavements during the pandemic period another 800 permits have been issued for new or extended dining spaces and of course we've taken that into parking places on roads. 

It's completely transformed our city in the way that it looks the way that it's used and particularly the sense of activation and energy and from our perspective. It is about supporting traders to be able to welcome more guests and really provide something that's differentiated. When we first talked about this program we were met with a lot of resistance and I’m really glad that we've persisted because this is something that is here to stay 

[Zelman Ainsworth]  Out of that 800 how many of those do you think will stay on and continue uh

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp] 

Well out of those 800 to date we've only had 20 business owners say that they don't want to continue with an extended outdoor dining permit. So overall it's been a resounding success. For some of those people it just hasn't worked for logistic reasons as much as it is the extension of their space I think particularly that's been something well as i said, very proud of, but really pleased about. To date we have not charged anything for these spaces or the infrastructure in these spaces. We're very mindful that for our small business owners it still continues to be very tough times.

We keep extending the waiver of any permit fees and we'll continue to look at that because we are here to support small business owners as much as we can.

[Zelman Ainsworth]  It definitely changed the face of Melbourne Outdoor dining in Melbourne streets and lanes. It's been super productive

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp] 

Well we had so many even restauranteurs but a lot of commentators tell us that Melbourne is not an outdoor city and we don't do outdoor dining and that this was going to be a failure but we've really shown that we are and it's an aspect of the city that customers love

[Zelman Ainsworth]  Absolutely. This is a random question but we could tie it in - are you Liquor licences and permits  for retail at the moment 

Lord Mayor Sally Capp]  Yes we are seeing an increase in all sorts of requests for permits and liquor licences also extensions and we are admiring of so many people for their risk-taking even in difficult circumstances. That sense of resilience and innovation is definitely there - alive and well in Melbourne - and it's remarkable that even after the biggest shock that we've had in our living experience that there's still that desire to grow or to start something new. We're doing a lot of work internally to really continue that theme of being a city of yes and a city of possibility that means at the moment we're looking at digitising 42 of our permits so that they can go online we can bring wait times down from 12 days to 2, but where their renewals of permits we're hoping to turn those into same day. That's going to save a lot of time a lot of cost. We’ve also set up a new entity called invest Melbourne which is definitely about facilitating investment into the CBD and we're looking at all of these sorts of measures as making sure that we are and a place that's easy to do business, that reduces cost and stress for business owners and gives them the best opportunity to flourish

[Zelman Ainsworth]   We're seeing on our side the inquiry has been significantly increased from three years ago even 

Lord Mayor Sally Capp]   I do think what you're seeing is consistent with what we're seeing and even at times of hardship people do identify opportunity and it's remarkable. I think it's a real testament to Melbournians as well we saw massive transformation in the early 90s as we came out of a financial crisis and there's definitely that that sense again of renaissance in the city and we're just trying to capture as much of that as we can. We've also seen incredible interest from artists and creative organisations to come into city spaces and of course they sense opportunity if rents are coming down or if particularly people with bigger footprints are looking to sublease we've got a record number of inquiries from those sorts of organizations. 

We know that artists and creative organizations really spark a lot of activity and energy around the city

[Zelman Ainsworth]   Because there are some owners that are looking towards artists to help activate their retail precincts so these like artists open galleries and stores 

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp]  Creative spaces places where they can bring people together and also performance spaces i think it's going to be a key part of what really drives our revitalization

[Zelman Ainsworth] Well this shock that you talk about from last two years it's creating it's a reset and it creates a lot of gaps and holes and opportunities i mean our business was born out of this period, so i think a lot of people are seeing this as a finally a way to get in to a market that looked pretty difficult to crack so it's great 

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp]  I think comparatively we still stack up if you compare across capital cities um from a cost benefit analysis. I was asked the other day was it a concern to me that we rated as best value for money i put it across capital cities. I think that's absolutely part of the winning platform for us as we continue to grow. The economic forecasts tell us that we'll still be the most populous city in Australia was due to be 2025 it's now 2027, which is really just that pandemic period pushed forward. The economic forecasts from independent sources tell us that our city economy will grow by 70 percent over the next 10 years and that we will see an increase in locally based jobs and I think that's all good news for businesses that want to come and be part of the local economy that is within the City of Melbourne. 

[Zelman Ainsworth]   There's an enormous confidence that the city's back and it's staying this way. You've been quoted in the paper talking about stamp duty concessions for property owners Can you tell us what that's about

[Lord Mayor Sally Capp]  Well the stamp duty concessions we negotiated with the state government during this pandemic period really apply to residential properties, it is a recognition that another key part of driving revitalisation is to attract more people to live in the city. We've had incredible success stories right across the municipality and residents have really become the underwriters of so many activities in our city they have become the heartbeat. They literally have driven liveability for Melbourne and we have huge capacity to welcome more people in. We also recognize that whilst we want our developers to continue to build good residential projects in the city we have to be mindful where there's been excess stock, and so negotiating with state government for zero stamp duty on properties that have been on the market for 12 months and 50 stamp duty exemption for other properties in the city has been a major driver of our marketing to attract more residents to the city 

[Zelman Ainsworth]   That's clever!

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