Slow trade for Mildura market sellers

STALLHOLDERS returned to the market landscape for Sunday’s Mildura City Market.

The fortnightly Langtree Mall market had everything from crafts to fresh produce, dried fruit and books — but it seemed there were almost as many stallholders as there were potential customers.

Jewellery, watch and key-ring seller Ken Middleton said crowd numbers were down because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“It was still worthwhile coming down today, a dollar is a dollar, and we’ll just take it as it comes,” he said.

“It’s a good little market but they can’t advertise it because of COVID-19.

“They’re only allowed to have so many people in the area, so it’s hard with COVID-19, but we have to do what we have to do.”

And Beauty Scoop stallholder Donna Bennett said it was normal for the number of marketgoers to fluctuate each week but the affects of COVID-19 on makers were undeniable.

“I was going to have a stall at the Red Cliffs market … I was going to go and have a good day but we didn’t get to, unfortunately,” she said.

“This is my second job, so I don’t rely on it, but I understand other people definitely rely on having these things and if it’s not happening they’re losing money.

“The number of people at the markets goes up and down all the time so I can’t say if the snap lockdown affected us a hell of a lot.

“There’s normally not as many people at the Mildura market as there are other markets — this one is a relaxed Sunday market.”