Market spots in high demand
A CAIRNS pensioner is pleading for the chance to get his business started at the Cairns markets after being knocked back for three consecutive years.
Malanda’s Anthony Artioli (above) owns his own juice business, Lime In Tha Coconut, and says he has been dreaming of the day he could sell his coconut and indigenous berry blends in Cairns. But, he’s been unable to secure a place at any Cairns market.
Cairns Regional Council’s community, sport and cultural services general manager Linda Kirchner said hundreds of applicants were on the waiting lists.
A CAIRNS pensioner is pleading for the chance to get his business started at the Cairns markets after being knocked back for three consecutive years.
Anthony Artioli owns his own juice business, Lime In Tha Coconut, and says he has been dreaming of the day he could sell his coconut and indigenous berry blends in Cairns.
“If I had started a long time ago I should have a shop in town, but we’ve got to start at the bottom with markets,” he said.
“I’d be able to have a shop in town, I’d be able to bottle it, I could have a five-day-a-week shop in town.
“That’s my dream to have my business doing that. It’s a long way from what I’m doing.”
The Manunda father said he first started applying for positions at the Tanks Markets, Palm Cove Markets and Carnival on Collins in 2014.
“They’ve told me specifically that I was third from the top. The thing is, in three years, I still haven’t gone in,” he said.
“They told me 300 before and I was three at the top. Now it’s 500 businesses or more trying to get into the markets.”
Cairns Regional Council’s community, sport and cultural services general manager Linda Kirchner said hundreds of applicants were also on the waiting list as the markets have no limit to how long a stallholder can remain at one site.
“Currently, there are 765 active applications for 150 sites at Tanks Markets and 697 applications for 140 sites at Palm Cove with multiple new appli- cations arriving every week,” she said.
“While this demand means we have the opportunity to provide a high-quality market experience for visitors, it also means there are lengthy wait lists and we have to disappoint a lot of potential stallholders.”
She said Mr Artioli’s stall may have been rejected because he sells drinks.
“A small number of food and drink vendors are accepted for the Palm Cove and Tanks markets but spaces are in high demand,” she said.
“Preference is given to stalls that sell items that fall under the ‘craft’ or ‘cottage industry’ definitions.”
The Nerdy Crafter business owner Lydia Lui said she faced very few challenges when securing a market stall in the Northern Beaches.
“I’ve only been at Holloways Markets since December, but I chose to go there after applying to the markets in the city,” she said.
She said people struggling getting into Cairns City markets should look to markets north or south of the city.
“Markets are unpredictable, they can be slow or it can be raining, so you don’t know how much you’ll make, so the lower the stall fees are the better,” she said.