Camberwell Traders Newsletter - Q1 2024

A letter from the president

Dear fellow traders and professionals,

I hope you’ve had a good start to the year, and made the most of the busy Christmas and summer trading season.

Despite recent challenges with cost-of-living pressures, retail sales for Christmas increased by 0.8 per cent in December 2023. Data from the Australian Retailers Association showed that most categories reported modest growth. However, the rising popularity of Black Friday sales impacted December’s trading, with many customers choosing to buy Christmas gifts early in the November sales. Given this shifting trend, it will be important to plan ahead for this year and maximise the sales period in late November.

In this newsletter, we share our promotions calendar so you can see what’s planned for 2024. This includes key retail dates like Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, and unique events. In May, we’ll host our annual health and wellness event, CamberWELL-BEING. This event is not just for businesses in this category, it’s a fun day to attract people to the precinct.

Make sure you get involved so you can leverage the event’s marketing and advertising.

Equally important is our ongoing digital marketing which includes a modern website and monthly email newsletters to a big database. We use social media and articles to drive traffic to the website – this helps to improve SEO and ensures people learn more about our businesses.

We have more promotions planned for the year ahead to keep Camberwell Junction front of mind for shoppers, and we’re always incorporating ways to attract people to the precinct through our marketing. I encourage you to get involved where you can so that you benefit from these activities.

Check the Trader Portal at camberwellshopping.com.au to find information including news updates and business support resources. Make sure you send your offers and promotions to our manager Kerry Daly so we can promote them: info@camberwellca.com.au

Regards,

Henk Kelly-Kobes President, Camberwell Centre Association

Marketing snapshot

A year in review

We’ve had a full and busy year of regular marketing activities and events. Some highlights included our Christmas Family Day, which offered a lively and fun day for visitors. We had photos with Santa, roving musicians and entertainers, face painting, balloon modelling and more. We ran Camberwell Culinary Awards for a second year, a campaign to promote our food and dining businesses. We also collaborated with the Rotary Camberwell Sunday Market to create activations including Kylie and Dannii Day which drew an excellent crowd and allowed us to cross-promote the shopping precinct.

Here’s a snapshot of the marketing activities we completed in the past year:

• Produced promotions, including advertising and competitions, for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Christmas

• Collaborated with Rotary Camberwell Sunday Market to run activations including Kylie and Dannii Day to draw people to the area and cross-promote the precinct

• Created and distributed 12 x detailed monthly newsletters to our email database

• Created unique content including ‘Meet a Trader’ business profile stories, and guides for seasonal fashion, New Year, back to school, food and dining, Black Friday, and Halloween

• Ran regular Business Forum events (free for traders to attend)

• Produced 3 x issues of The Camberwell Citizen newspaper with 30,000 copies of each issue distributed to local homes, shops, and key locations

• Refreshed several SEO articles to improve our online profile and search engine performance

• Ran our second Camberwell Culinary Awards campaign, which included a competition, to highlight the food and dining category

• Produced numerous articles and resources for the Trader Portal, to keep traders informed of government-directed news and updates

• Advocated and petitioned for traders at local council on key matters such as parking, dining parklets, and other support where required

• Delivered regular updates to traders including quarterly email and print newsletters.

Our online marketing activities continue to yield strong results. Here's a snapshot of Camberwell Junction's digital audience numbers:

• More than 7,700 email addresses in our subscriber database

• More than 129,000 visits to the websites over the past year

• More than 9,500 followers on social media

CamberwerWELL-BEING

CamberWELL-BEING returns this year to support and promote the health and wellness businesses in the Camberwell Junction precinct. It will be held on Saturday, May 25 and will offer a fun day that invites shoppers to register and follow the Wellness Trail for their chance to win some great prizes.

Customers will collect their branded sports bag from our HQ event booth on the day, which will include a Wellness Trail Passport. Entrants will follow the trail to discover what’s happening in the participating businesses and get their passports stamped. When customers return to the booth with a stamped passport, they can enter the Wellness Trail competition for a chance to win one of the many prizes donated by our traders.

We highly encourage traders to get involved in the Wellness Trail as it offers you a fantastic opportunity to invite new customers through your doors, share your products and services with them, and entice them back with special offers.

Need some ideas? Here’s how your business can get involved:

• Organise an activity, event, demonstration or special guest for the day.

• Offer a free session or class on the day to introduce your business to new customers.

• If your business runs private classes or consultations, host an open day to give people a taste of what your business offers.

• Create a special offer on your products and services like a discount or a ‘buy one, get one free’ deal on the day or during the months of May and June.

• Give away free samples, such as a taste testing of health foods or a sample of a cosmetic product. Consider offering vouchers to bring people back into your store.

• Hire promotional staff to engage trail walkers at your business or roam the precinct and invite guests into your business.

• Provide gifts, vouchers, or products for inclusion in the official event sports bags.

Still struggling for ideas but keen to get involved? Talk to us and we’ll be able to help.

Contact Kerry Daly by phoning (03) 9813 4190 or emailing kdaly@camberwellca.com.au

The Great Camberwell Easter Hunt

For our Easter promotions, we’ll run The Great Camberwell Easter Hunt. The annual competition encourages people to find the golden eggs hidden on posters in shop windows around the Camberwell Junction precinct for a chance to win a $500 shopping voucher. The more golden eggs that entrants find, the more chances they will have to win, which incentivises people to visit as many shops as possible. The competition is supported by digital advertising and social media activity.

This year, the Easter Bunny will visit the precinct to meet and greet shoppers. The Easter Bunny will be in the precinct on Saturday, March 23 from 11am - 2pm and Sunday, March 24 from 10am - 1pm. Traders can leverage this opportunity by having photos in-store or in the precinct with the Easter Bunny. We hope you make the most of it!

Disability Inclusive Employment Program

Boroondara Council’s free Disability Inclusive Employment Program will place local people with disability into meaningful employment opportunities with businesses in Boroondara and support these businesses with this employment.

With this program, the council aims to:

• improve the confidence and capability of local businesses to attract, recruit and retain employees with disability

Valentine’s Day sales boost

Shoppers spent $465 million on Valentines’ Day this year, despite cost-of-living pressures curbing spending. The sales figures were slightly less than last year (down 4.1 per cent), however shoppers spent an average of $135 per gift which was considerably more than 2023 (up from $118 or 14.4 per cent). Those in the 18-to-34-year-old demographic spent the most on gifts for Valentine’s Day, closely followed by those aged 35 to 49. Flowers, chocolates, dinner, and a trip away were among the most popular gift choices.

(Data provided by Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan).

• promote the social and economic benefits of being an accessible and inclusive business for employees and customers with disability

• facilitate employment and training opportunities for local people with disability.

To find out more, visit http://tinyurl.com/5a27jma5

Retailers welcome cash rate reprieve

The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has welcomed the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to hold cash rates at 4.35 per cent. The February announcement comes after the rate of inflation halved over the last few months of 2023 and will provide further relief for consumer and business confidence.

ARA CEO Paul Zahra said February’s rate decision will give the retail industry a “much-needed reprieve for consumers and businesses”, with the cash rate remaining stable at 4.35 per cent since November.

“At a time of immense financial pressure and hardship for most, avoiding another cash rate increase will positively impact spending and retail operations,” Mr Zahra said.

Marketing calendar

What’s coming up?

MARCH

✓ Camberwell Business Forum (March 21)

✓ Autumn sales and promotions

✓ Easter promotions begin, including Great Camberwell Easter Hunt

✓ Easter (March 29 – April 1)

✓ School holidays (March 29 – April 14)

APRIL

✓ Easter (March 29 – April 1)

✓ School holidays (March 29 – April 14)

✓ Anzac Day (April 25)

MAY

✓ Mother’s Day (May 12)

✓ CamberWELL-BEING (May 25)

Networking events

Meet other traders, professionals and community members to share ideas and issues.

TRADER AND BUSINESS FORUMS

The next Camberwell Business Forum will run on March 21, so please save the date and stay tuned for further details. The free event is open to all retail and servicebased businesses in the local area.

Visit camberwellbusiness.com.au to secure your spot.

The Camberwell Business Forums offer local businesses a great opportunity to meet and network. Drinks and nibbles will be provided. Guest speakers and topics for future events will be posted on camberwellbusiness.com.au. Events are FREE for Camberwell traders or $25 for non-members, unless otherwise stated.

THE CAMBERWELL BUSINESS CLUB

The Camberwell Business Club meets on the first Thursday of each month (from February to December). Meetings are held upstairs at Deco (211 Camberwell Rd) from 1pm – 2pm sharp, and features a guest speaker. Membership packages are available. It’s a great chance to meet fellow business operators over a light lunch.

Details: camberwellbusinessclub.com.au

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE BUSINESSES

It is difficult to keep up with new operators in the precinct, particularly those in upper levels, so please keep us informed. The camberwellshopping.com.au website is not just for retailers — businesses can use it too.

If your business deals directly with the public or works with other small businesses, please let us know. We can create a web page for you at no cost.

We remind all businesses to check out camberwellbusiness.com.au, where we post local business events held in Camberwell. If you are hosting a local seminar or event, we can also help promote it for free.

Send info to: info@camberwellca.com.au

TRADER PORTAL

Please see our Trader Portal tab on the website for helpful advice for rent negotiations, mediation, business and mental health support programmes available to you. camberwellshopping.com.au/cca-association-news

Shop news

Catch up with new businesses, store moves and other news.

AMOURA SPA & BEAUTY

Salon Studios, Studio 10, 149 Camberwell Rd

Amoura Spa & Beauty offers relaxation massages, pregnancy massage, and in-spa facial treatments. Owner Sheridan has run a business as a freelance make-up artist since 2002 and is a qualified and practising beauty therapist who previously worked at Australia’s largest day spas.

BUPA DENTAL

555 Riversdale Rd

Bupa Dental has moved to 555 Riversdale Rd. The business offers a range of dental services including dental assessments, scale and polishes, fillings, cosmetic dentistry and dental reconstruction. Call to book an appointment: (03) 9103 2450.

CAMBERWELL FRESH FOOD MARKET

519 - 525 Riversdale Rd

Market MUNCHkins has returned to the Camberwell Fresh Food Market. Join them every Thursday from 10.30am – 11.30am. The interactive activity is perfect for pre-school children and aims to create fun experiences with food.

HERS LUXE

825 Burke Rd

New to Camberwell Junction, Hers Luxe is a beauty salon that offers manicures, nail art, nail repairs and eyelash extensions. Hers Luxe believes that every woman possesses innate beauty that deserves to be celebrated.

SOUL SISTERS

891 Burke Rd

New items are on the menu for the season at Soul Sisters. Try their new smoothies: blueberry bliss and passionfruit delight. Packed with delicious fresh fruit and all-vegan, try them in-store today!

MARK L HAIR

Salon Studios, Studio 14, 149 Camberwell Rd

Mark L Hair is now based in Camberwell Junction at Salon Studios. Mark is a certified Wella Colour Expert Salon with a career spanning more than six years. He is offering bespoke hair colour and styling services with a focus on suitability and wear. Contact the salon to learn more.

THE MODERN FURNITURE STORE

347 Camberwell Rd

Are you looking to refresh your home decor this year? Then be sure to speak to the friendly team at The Modern Furniture Store. Not only do they offer a great range of homewares and furniture, they also offer a home styling service to guide you in your decor choices. There are a range of packages to choose from so enquire at the Camberwell Junction showroom or call (03) 8849 0325.

YO-BAR

618 Burke Rd

Yo-Bar has opened in Camberwell Junction. The store sells premium self-serve acai, macqui and frozen yoghurt bowls. Pop in today to treat yourself.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

PRESIDENT

Henk Kelly-Kobes Dymocks Bookstore 9882 0032

TREASURER

Daniel Piciocco

Aintree Group 9851 7933

MEMBERS

Wayne Chen

The Gift Bargain Store 0433 159 949

Neil Earle Earle & Company 9882 0233

George Keskerides

Terry White Chemist 9882 6655

VICE PRESIDENT

Ray Orr Mail Boxes Etc 9813 2200

SECRETARY

Bev Wooffindin

Camberwell Secretariat 9813 2707

Chris Risteski

It's a Game 9859 8214

Milo Barkin

Barrel & Roast 9603 0337

Brittany Unwin SC Accounting 8840 9188

If you would like to become a member of the association or take a role on the committee contact the president to discuss.

SUPPORT FOR TRADERS

All traders are welcome to contact precinct manager Kerry Daly to discuss any marketing or relevant issues. Call (03) 9813 4190 or email kdaly@camberwellca.com.au

STAY INFORMED

The trader’s association sends out monthly email newsletters with current business, news and marketing updates to ensure you stay informed about what’s going on in the precinct. If you are not receiving these emails then we either do not have your current email address or you need to check your spam filters. Please contact us if you are having any issues with receiving the email newsletter.

CONTACT US

For further information regarding topics in this newsletter, please contact

Kerry Daly

Camberwell Centre Association Manager

Lvl 1, Camberwell Place, 793 Burke Rd

Camberwell VIC 3124

Phone / Fax: (03) 9813 4190 info@camberwellca.com.au