Camberwell Traders' Newsletter Q2 2023

A letter from the president

Dear fellow traders and professionals,

I hope the first half of this year has been good to you and that you’re ready for the winter trading season. While retail sales across the country are steady, we’re starting to see the impacts of the increased cost of living and inflation on retail spending. Data from April by Mastercard SpendingPulse showed that Australian retail sales were up 2.6 per cent year on year. The grocery category (up 8.5 per cent) and restaurants (up 8 per cent) led the growth, however spending declined in other categories including jewellery, home furnishings, and apparel.

We’re operating in a different climate compared to 2022, where low interest rates meant spending was higher, so it’s important for us all to think about ways we can attract customers to our stores. That might be offering incentives, running sales, or holding promotions on key retail dates where we know people still spend money.

In this newsletter you’ll find information about our planned promotions for the year. In the coming months we’ll have our winter food campaign, Camberwell Culinary Awards. The awards were popular last year.

Marketing snapshot

Our recent promotions have included Easter, Mother’s Day, and CamberWELL BEING.

To celebrate Easter, the Easter Bunny visited Camberwell Junction for two days across a weekend to meet and greet shoppers. The campaign also featured our annual competition, The Great Camberwell Easter Hunt, which invited people to find the golden eggs hidden on posters across the precinct. The Easter campaign was supported by digital advertising, social media activity, printed posters, and online editorial.

Following last year’s success, we brought back the Marvellous Mum Awards to mark Mother’s Day. It gave entrants the chance to win $500 to spend in Camberwell Junction – all they had to do was tell us what Mother’s Day award they would give their mum for a chance to win. The promotion was supported by website editorial, digital promotion, and outdoor advertising.

CamberWELL BEING returned this year to promote our health and wellness businesses. Held on Saturday, May 20, the day gave shoppers the chance to discover businesses along the Wellness Trail and win a share of prizes worth more than $5,500. The event was a great success and offered traders the opportunity to connect directly with prospective customers.

Customers vote for their favourite eateries in the precinct and to participate they need to spend money at food businesses. This not only increases sales, it encourages people to discover our great food and dining offering and visit the precinct more often. We’ll also promote winter fashion and homewares, and contribute to school holiday entertainment in Camberwell Place. Our ongoing marketing includes regular trader profiles, SEO articles so people can find us when searching for specific shops and services online, keeping our website up to date to include new businesses and trader events, staying active on social media, and producing The Camberwell Citizen newspaper.

Make sure you check the Trader Portal at camberwellshopping.com.au to find details about government updates and business support resources. Also send your offers and promotions to our manager Kerry Daly so we can share them: info@camberwellca.com.au

Regards, Henk Kelly-Kobes President, Camberwell Centre Association

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

• More than 7,900 email addresses in our subscriber database

• More than 155,200 visits to the websites over the past year

• More than 9,300 followers on social media.

Our hero campaign for winter each year highlights our food businesses, especially as customers opt for indoor dining during the cooler months. After launching the Camberwell Culinary Awards last year, the campaign will return this winter to further drive awareness of our food and dining businesses and reinforce the awards as an annual event.

The Camberwell Culinary Awards celebrates the finest cuisine in Camberwell Junction by giving people the chance to vote for their favourite meal or beverage.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Members of the public can vote for their favourite meal or beverage across a range of categories including best coffee, best brunch, best sweet treat, best drinking spot, best casual dining, best fine dining, best takeaway, and best healthy option. By voting, they will get the chance to win a major prize, as well as a series of minor prizes.

The campaign supports Camberwell Junction traders, driving customers to your venues and encouraging them to spend money. To be eligible to enter the Camberwell Culinary Awards, customers have to purchase a meal or beverage, retain their receipt, and upload it as proof of purchase alongside their entry. Customers can enter the competition as many times as they like with every unique receipt.

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?

If you operate a food business within the precinct, we encourage you to get involved so you can leverage the marketing activities we’ll be doing to promote the campaign. All food businesses will automatically be eligible to be entered into the awards however, there are extra things you can do to promote your business during this period.

Here are some ways you can get involved:

• Let us know that you want your business promoted during this campaign and we can arrange to have an official poster displayed on your shop window

• Send us details about your offers, specials and sales during the campaign so we can promote it on our website

• Offer a special lunch deal, set menu, or grab‑and‑go meal during the campaign period. It may help with enticing customers into your business

• Tell your customers to vote for your business in the awards.

The Camberwell Culinary Awards is a great way to engage our local community and drive sales. The campaign will be supported by extensive advertising and marketing, and you will be supplied with social media posts so you can help promote the awards.

If you have any questions about the campaign, please email event coordinator Aaron: camberwell@assemblo.com

Easter events popular with shoppers

The Easter Bunny visited the precinct on April 1 and 2 to meet and greet shoppers as part of our Easter promotions. Shoppers responded positively by stopping to take photos with the Easter Bunny and his princess helper. For the Sunday event, we collaborated with the Rotary Camberwell Sunday Market and had the Easter Bunny roam the market for the morning to engage with the crowd of 8,000 visitors that attend each week. We have seen this as an important opportunity to drive market visitors to the wider shopping precinct so we can leverage this foot traffic. We handed out vouchers to stores in the precinct (provided by traders) and ensured the Easter Bunny ventured onto Burke Rd and the junction after the market ended to draw crowds to other shops. Thank you to all the traders who got involved in this event.

CamberWELL-BEING

On Saturday, May 20 we hosted CamberWELL BEING, our annual event to highlight health and wellness businesses in Camberwell Junction. The event invited people to participate in the Wellness Trail, allowing them to explore local businesses and meet our traders. Trail participants were able to join fitness challenges at gyms, sample health foods, try medical treatments, and sign up for classes. They also went into a draw to win from a pool of prizes worth more than $5,500, donated by our traders. It was an enjoyable day, with a good turnout, and we look forward to hosting next year’s event to support our growing health and wellness sector in Camberwell Junction.

Police update: EFTPOS thefts and misuse

Boroondara businesses are being urged to be alert to EFTPOS machine misuse and theft. Detectives are investigating several incidents in Kew and Hawthorn, and Camberwell Junction traders are reminded to stay alert.

Advice from police:

• Never refund a transaction to a card other than the one used to make the original purchase

• Don’t allow customers to have control over your EFTPOS machine

• Be wary if a customer takes ages to input a 4 digit PIN or is reading numbers from their phone or a piece of paper

• Never leave your EFTPOS machine unattended on the counter.

• For more tips, visit: facebook.com/eyewatchboroondara

Marketing calendar

What’s coming up?

Networking events

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

JUNE

✓ King’s Birthday public holiday (June 12)

✓ End of financial year sales

✓ School holidays (June 26 – July 7)

JULY

✓ Winter promotion

✓ School holidays (June 26 – July 7)

AUGUST

✓ Camberwell Culinary Awards

✓ The Camberwell Citizen issue #17 available

✓ Father’s Day promotions begin

TRADER AND BUSINESS FORUMS

Our next Camberwell Business Forum will take place on Wednesday, July 12 and be hosted by Eclat. Visit camberwellbusiness.com.au to get further details and to purchase your tickets.

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.

CAMBERWELL BUSINESS CLUB

From July, Camberwell Business Club will shift to meeting monthly. The club will meet 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.

CAROLINA LIFESTYLE

797 Burke Rd

Merging Australian ideals with European style and Colombian craftsmanship, Carolina Lifestyle carries a range of clothing and accessories designed to inspire confidence in women. All products are created in limited quantities and caters for size 6 to 22.

KOOKAI

636 Burke Road

Join KOOKAÏ at their Camberwell pop up sale store, open from May 26, 2023 for a limited time only. Prices start at $20 across the KOOKAÏ collection of fashion, basics, footwear, samples and more.

MARKET 755

Level 1, 755 Burke Rd

New to the precinct is hidden gem Market 755, a haven of pre loved, vintage and small brand clothing. Enter via Commerce Lane (next to Commonwealth Bank).

OKRA

180 Camberwell Rd

Okra has marked 20 years in Camberwell Junction and recently moved to a new location. The restaurant, which specialises in Asian cuisines including Indonesian, Thai, and Malaysian, is now at 180 Camberwell Rd, next to Rivoli Cinemas.

ORIENTAL HEALTH

2B-2C Prospect Hill Rd

Oriental Health has moved to a new location on Prospect Hill Rd. They continue to offer Chinese medicine services, remedial massage and myotherapy, beauty and skincare, and more.

TALKING SLEEP PSYCHOLOGY

Level 1, 123 Camberwell Rd

If you're struggling with sleep, then Talking Sleep Psychology is worth checking out. The team can assist with a range of mental health concerns including insomnia, nightmares, and parasomnias, as well as anxiety and depression. Appointments are in person or via telehealth, and they also offer group programs and art therapy.

THRIVING MINDS COACHING

949 Burke Rd

Thriving Minds Coaching provides an educational and supportive environment for all individuals to develop a deeper understanding of ADHD and how to tap into the strengths of children who have ADHD. They offer teacher education, parent workshops, art connection workshops for children, workplace presentations, and carefully selected books.

YEE HER MINERAL

636 Market Place

Yee Her Mineral is new to Camberwell Junction and provides professional facial and body treatments as well as aesthetic beauty treatments including OPT rejuvenation, skin booster, micro‑needling and more.

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

Natalie Daw Helloworld Travel Camberwell 9963 1280

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 Column Financial Solutions 9859 8214

Milo Barkin Barrel & Roast 9603 0337

Amanda Lenny South Pacific Health Clubs 9882 8843

Brittany Unwin SC Accounting 88409 9188

If you would like to attend a committee meeting or get more involved, contact the president to discuss or attend our regular Camberwell Business Forum networking events.

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