MCU14/0106 Submission PM Support - Maureen Jeffriess

Subject: MCU14/0106 YOUR SAY ON NOOSA CIVIC EXPANSION
From: Maureen Jeffriess
Date: 2015-07-30T02:44:37+00:00
To: Mailbox Council Mail

Good Afternoon,

I support the expansion of Noosa Civic Shopping Centre.

Reasons:

Lack of diversity in shops at the NCSC as it now stands.

Competition is healthy and fosters competetive prices, service and products.

Whenever I shop for gifts I usually go to Sunshine Plaza (particularly the Christmas period) where I have more choices in the variety of shops, cafes, businesses.
Many of the shops already insitu at NCSC are franchise-owned so shopping here is the same as shopping elsewhere. Having non-franchise businesses would be a bonus.

There are only two cafes where you can eat indoors - The Coffee Club and Chocolat (not much seating indoors and if it rains you'd get wet outdoors). You can eat in The Bakehouse but it isn't as relaxed as the CC and the sit-down space is very limited as is the food.

Need better quality and more variety in ladies shoe stores. At the moment the few (two?) there are franchise and Williams has less variety than their city stores.

Big W has the monopoly on the discount department stores. There is no competition and that doesn't motivate Big W in many ways: ie. Limited floor staff equate to lack of assistance to customers, untidy store, no-one full-time in garden nursery, higher theft rate.

More competition means the stores already there might pick up their game and start treating customers better (they're not all bad). If I'm not acknowledged I don't buy - simple as that.

Many people don't own cars therefore catching a bus out of Noosa (Sunshine Plaza) is time-consuming and inconvenient for many reasons.

Jobs - we need more in the Noosa Shire. To be created in building the expansion, supply before, during and after completion, staff for retail and businesses after completion.

The expansion should not take too much away from Noosa Junction as NJ shops are mostly boutique style, high-end clothing and with the amount of holidaymakers in that area they often stay within walking distance of their resort/backpackers accommodation.

Then there are the tourists who do transport themselves. They may go to NC but when they see how small it is and the franchises they already have in their home town, they have a coffee and quick bite to eat and go to Sunshine Plaza another day. I always take my visitors to SP for a good shop and the river walk is always a wow factor. NC is just to show them what we have (or haven't got) before embarking further afield.

One shop we don't have in NC is a tourist shop. Try buying a koala or kangaroo at NC now. You'd be hard pushed to find one (go to Hastings St where there are two). With more stores (expansion in place) and more customers the tenants might justify a tourism shop. One with perhaps a coffee shop incorporated.

Gympie people won't need to bypass us to go further south either.

I could go on and on from a customers point of view and also as I was one of the customer personnel officers for Noosa Civic during Mark Stockwell's ownership, I know what customers want from the many varied queries I encountered in over two years there.

BRING IT ON - NOOSA NEEDS THIS EXPANSION!

Thank you for allowing me to discuss and submit my views.

Kind regards,

MAUREEN JEFFRIESS
Tewantin