Letters to the Editor
NICK ATKINSON: Thank you Nick Patrick for your inspiring article (Pop-up shops: threat or opportunity?, InDaily, 18 October 2013).
Pop-ups are not new of course. We have just given them a new name. The news stand, mobile fruit, food and drink stalls are the traditional pop-ups that have been around for as long as those daily markets that set up in the morning and are gone by noon. Wherever they have been allowed to set up they have always been one of the key contributors to vibrant and convenient daily life. They provide excellent service and the best products possible because the owner/operators’ livelihoods depend on it. They are the basis of resilient economies because they are relatively unencumbered by the trappings of permanent place and can quickly adjust to changes in taste and circumstance. Most of all, pop-ups offer opportunities to people who combine innovation and economic nous with an affinity for the communities in which they live and serve. The traditional retailers who are threatened by pop-ups should perhaps review their standards of service and perhaps even the sources of their products at a time when we are becoming more and more conscious of our responsibility to support local producers, craftspeople and manufacturers.
MARK COLEMAN: It’s entirely understandable that established retailers don’t like pop-ups who, after all, are like the nasty internet – they offer different and interesting products, often at lower prices/better quality. The entry to the Australian market of overseas brands such as American Apparel, Zara and Topshop has shaken up our local retailers, both boutiques and department stores, just as the opening of Apple stores has dislocated specialist IT stores.
This trend will only continue, with other brands such as Hollister and Uniqlo expanding or starting up here; life for the locals won’t be getting any easier.
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It seems that the Adelaide City Council is being overly protective of established retailers, including discouraging food trucks, at the cost of reducing choices for the consuming public.
I think it’s time for the ACC to have a good think about what it really wants – does it really want a vibrant Adelaide, or does it just want to help landlords maintain high rents, in the guise of protecting existing retailers?
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