MALL-CONTENTS

Local shopkeepers share their insights

LeeAnn

This is going into the 6th year we’ve had this shop (Pictures & Pages) — myself and Sharon. We both live in the area and our kids attend the schools here. We met as primary school parents; our kids started prep together and we were both looking for something to do. Sharon suggested this, and I said ‘I’m in’. I’ve lived in Coburg for maybe 30 years; I’d say that the demographic has changed, but really it just has peaks of young children and then old, and then it starts over again — it hasn’t changed for a long time.

There are often lots of plans for changes in the area, and then those plans often fall to the wayside. I think once the train goes up the flow on effect will come across here; they’ll develop the carpark and there will be more shops. I like the plans for the train. I look at it like: it’s going to go up, it’s not just the cheaper option, but I think underneath the ground — without being an expert — there’s a lot of infrastructure under there; once you start touching it all, you don’t know what might happen. I think the simple solution is to put it up. We just need more shops around here that are beneficial to everyone. There were a lot more fashion shops here, a lot of those have moved on, so it’d be good to have a variety for shoppers so they stick to shopping strips around here and don’t go elsewhere. More clothing stores, and in particular shoes; we’ve gone from three shoe shops to one.

Jin

About 13 or 14 years ago I started this store (Fairprice). I chose Coburg because it’s close to the city and because there are both young and old people, which is good for business. It’s hard to say what has changed in Coburg because when I’m here I’m always inside working, but I have noticed it’s become cleaner and more organised since I started working here.

I’ve also noticed it’s become more accessible for disabled people; it’s much easier for customers to access the shops now. I’ve also noticed that the customers are getting a little bit older. Coburg is a good area; it’s an area that is full of energy. Normal people can do lots of things here. But the prices are getting higher. It would be good to get younger people in the area, and for there to be more local businesses and it would be good for local businesses to grow and to have increased foot traffic.