I don’t know if you read the Wynnum Herald the week before last, but this comment (from the vox pop section under the headline ‘What issue would you like to see addressed during the Brisbane City Council election?’) caught our eye…
“I think the biggest issue with Wynnum is that it is a ghost town on the weekend. The council needs to get more stuff happening within the CBD area. I know that they have tried it with markets but on a Sunday it is empty. I think the way to get the whole area moving is to get the CBD moving.”
In reply WynnumCentral sent the following (as yet unpublished) letter to the Herald…
Doug Forsyth (vox pop Wynnum Herald Feb 10) has a point – when he says “I think the biggest issue with Wynnum is that it is a ghost town on the weekend.” This is the ‘elephant in the room’ when it comes to Wynnum.
While the rest of the retail world has moved on to longer opening hours at the weekend – to cater to the majority of the working population who only have the weekend to do their shopping – Wynnum Central sticks to a 9am-12pm opening on Saturday (with some exceptions).
No wonder that 27% of respondents (2016 WynnumCentral Big Wynnum Survey) said they didn’t come into Wynnum at all at the weekend and 68% say they would shop more often in Wynnum if shops were open until 5pm.
However it will only work if all (or a large majority) of the shops decide to open longer hours together. If this does not happen, Wynnum Central is destined to continue on its current path.
Just to correct one point made by Mr Forsyth – the Saturday markets were not a council initiative – they were a private initiative of the Wynnum businesses that are members and supporters of the WynnumCentral project. In fact the council only imposed costs and restrictions on the market which ultimately made it too costly to continue.
The Wynnum Herald in fact covered the shop opening hours issue last week where it cited the results of the recent WynnumCentral poll in regards to shop opening hours. Here’s the item – “Yes to weekend”. Click on the image to read…
Sobidah Clothing Co is opening on Sundays. 9-12 pm there are also quite a few coffee shops open as well.
We have received quite a few non Wynnum customers already which is great to see.
Little Gnome is open Sundays as well. They sell coffee & books. Always friendly service too.