OPINION: Jordan Gianfrancesco is the 22-year-old owner of The Darkroom Concept, a popular retail store on Bunbury's main street. Here he shares his thoughts on "supporting your local" and the hurdles that confront the Bunbury business community.
As many of you know, I own, run and live for my business - The Darkroom Concept, a retail concept store for fashion, design, art and curiosities.
I am passionate about it to say the least.
But before to get to my point I want to give you a little background.
It was 2010 – I had just finished my first year at university studying a double in design and photography.
I enjoyed the uni lifestyle to say the least, it seems now that I didn’t have a care in the world – I was out every night for months in a row either catching up with friends, skating around the city or going for midnight bike rides with my trusty Praktica MTL3 to capture the night.
As for the study, well – that didn’t really happen much.
You see I’m that annoying kid that when it comes to tests, essays, exams I can wing it and usually do ok at the same time IF it is testing me on a subject that I am passionate about, I’m just a sponge for that kind of stuff.
When it comes to anything else I’m terrible, just ask my girlfriend Maddison – she hates how I can’t remember where I put my keys or how I can’t recall what she told me no longer than five minutes before.
This brings me to one afternoon in Mount Lawley - I was at the Flying Scotsman Pub when my lecturer for photography was next to me at the bar.
We talked for a while and he could tell I wasn’t vibe’n on the whole study thing.
In a few words he said that, at the end of the day, a piece of paper saying that I have a degree in design and photography isn’t worth anything if I can’t design or take photo and that the best way to learn is to just do it.
Turns out he left school in Year 9 and is now teaching me as an international award winning photographer.
Naturally I thought about it. Quit uni and moved south again to refuel my fire.
In March 2011, I opened The Darkroom Concept at the age of 19.
The name The Darkroom pays homage to all the hours I spent developing film instead of going to class.
This was my dream, to be my own boss and supply the people of the South West with quality designer product that you cannot get anywhere else.
It’s pretty damn rad.
Fast forward almost three years and I’m sitting on the same stool that I brought the day of the opening, except now the leather is ripped and my footrest has snapped off.
We stock what I see as some of the best designers around. Ksubi, Romance Was Born, Cheap Monday, Nique, Camilla and Marc, Stolen GF Club, Jamie Fame, Henson, Sunday Somewhere, Colab, Vans California, Vans OTW, Mors, Huffer, ABC, Nudie, Skargorn, Deadwood, Upper Cut Deluxe, Something Else, Celeste Tessario, Rue Stiic, Brixton Headwear, AM Eyewear, Literally just to name a few.
I also freelance for a whole bunch of clients for design and photography on the side which mixes things up a little.
Sounds like a pretty easy sell huh? Bringing product that people scream for to a regional area so that they can get it locally?
Yeah that’s what I thought too.
You see, being young and in business is great.
From what I can see, because I’m learning everyday and making my own mind up about things as an open-minded young CEO I am not jaded because I am not a 60-year-old who is caught between a rock and a hard place who has learnt to just put up with things.
So, this is how I see the problem with the economy right now – isolated to my immediate surroundings.
Solidarity between a consumer and a local business owner does not exist anymore.
You used to go down to your local store, chat with your homie who works behind the till, bro down with them and he or she would in return look after you and help in every possible way.
From his or her hours of training and research about brands, fits, colours, trends etc they can personally make sure you are leaving the store happy with a product that fits and looks good on you etc – all for the registered retail price that is dictated by the brand or label before it is purchased by the store.
(This is what I do anyway – sell for the exact same price that is recommended to us from the brand – so this should be the same everywhere).
But unfortunately one of the issues we in the retail community are dealing with right now is online shopping.
My biggest pet hate that gets me really going is when I spend a good hour discussing denim cuts, fitting a customer with a perfect pair a literally investing an hour of time into it to just hear the “Oh thanks, I’ll think about it” only to return wearing the exact same pair that has been purchased online, maybe on special, maybe not, it’s beside the point – its just rude and a real kick to the teeth.
I’ve even had people brag about it to me with the “Yeah do you like these? I got them online.”
Like it’s some kind of bragging point that requires a handshake and a gold star.
F*** that.
Don’t get me wrong – I love online shopping, but I have a little checklist that I go through before I buy something online.
Can I get it locally? If I can buy the same thing locally I’m going to buy it local regardless of price (which remember should be the same RRP everywhere).
For example – yesterday I busted out my pair of Nike Free Runs.
I’m running a 10 km event on Sunday so I really needed some fresh ones.
I went down to a local sport shop, found a pair I kind of liked, told the sales assistant about the ones I was hunting for in case they could get them and so that they know there is a demand for a certain product.
I then bought a pair for $159 when I know I could probably get them a little cheaper online but because the sales assistant was helpful and fitted the shoe for me, I purchased them.
They can then replace the pair that I just bought with a pair that I really really love because I have made the effort to ask them about them and they now have a better understanding of what the consumer wants.
BECAUSE, and this is a big because, I understand the following;
ShopX employs 10 local staff – the 10 staff buy their lunch and coffees from the local coffee shop – who then (hopefully) spend money back at their local clothing shop and other local hospitalities. Repeat.
It’s a circle, but this is what happens when the circle is broken.
ShopX employs 10 staff – they buy their coffee at the cafe – People buy less from the local shop as they go online – ShopX eventually closes (multiply this by 10 shops on the same street) – that’s 100 less coffees and lunches for the cafe – PLUS less need to go into the CBD for shopping therefore less/no need to go into town for a coffee aster shopping. Cafe closes, all employees are unemployed. Customers have no reason to venture into town, CBD dies.
This isn’t a hypothetical, this is a reality that is occurring globally right now – but it is affecting regional areas first as the population of a regional area has less cash flow and businesses are hit harder in a regional area because of it.
Then to complicate the problem there is this fact.
The whole “If you can’t beat them join them” theory cannot be sustainable in this situation because of our geographical location.
Talking from experience, every box of stock that gets sent to a store is charged with around $30 to $80 for delivery.
This amount of money cannot be absorbed by the garment as our margins are pre-determined (as stated prior) so it is an extra expense that store owners go to just to supply our locals with product. So even if we wanted to we could not sustainably sell online as you would have to offer free or capped shipping, meaning each sale would roughly cost the store another $9 (for an Aus order).
Anyone who knows anything about retail mark-up or margins knows that per item the profit margin is so minimal that it usually barely covers costs at full price with a 30 day turn around. (Over 30 days interest is added and that same item of clothing is now an expense). Pretty rad hey.
So then we take the online saga and mix it in with a less than satisfactory local government.
In a time where commerce is in a place it has never been before you would think that the people with the majority of the power would have their fingers on the pulse, realise the problem and then devise an action plan to help in every possible way.
False.
What my local government has done has only increased the problem with the introduction of parking meters for our CBD.
Yeah, yeah I know...“But Jordan everywhere has parking meters these days.”
But this wasn’t the case for us and trading was going great.
Then these came in and it has freed up the parking situation so much that it’s almost a ghost town. People attract people – simple maths.
So now there are heaps of car bays and every reason to shop online. Thanks!
We also have almost no vibrancy within our city, next to no events and the area alone isn’t very tourist friendly as it is quite hard to find the CBD and as it is disjointed, getting around it is also a bit confusing if you are not a local.
It’s literally turning into a bypass that people live in.
This astounds me as looking from the outside Bunbury is a beautiful area that is 1.5 hours from an international airport and on the cusp of the internationally-renowned Margret River wine region.
So as far as tourism goes we should be pumping. And as a huge majority of industry jobs are non-existent in the area anymore, there isn’t too much else we can capitalise on.
So I guess what I’m trying to say is support your local anything, I don’t care if you don’t shop with me – that’s not the point.
The point is that without a little bit of solidarity for our own friends and homies trying to get things going then we are inevitably all pretty doomed. We need people to get behind our towns and cities.
Without support nothing will survive. It’s up to us – Support your Local.
Also if you are reading this and live in Bunbury, our local election is coming up this week, so make sure you vote and have a say in what goes on. Educate yourself on who is up for Mayor and stand up for a change in our little slice of the world.
PS. If you continually shop online for product that is accessible locally and then complain when shops, bars and cafes either close of fail to open in the first place then your opinion is no longer valid as you are part of the problem.
To read more from Jordan, visit http://thetmrw.com/
