Trader Gary McBean has been at Prahran Market for 48 years, starting out as an 11-year-old at his father’s butchers shop raking the floor back in the days it was covered in sawdust. “There’s a strong sense of community,” he says. “People really support the local market, I have been serving the same customers for 30 years.” McBean says even though his prices are expensive – some dry-aged steaks sell for $199 a kilo – the high cost of living actually means his butcher’s shop is a little busier. “Our customers still go out, but they don’t buy steaks any more,” he says. “It’s expensive to eat out, so people would rather cook their steak at home and if they go out they eat pasta.”
Preston Market The future of the Preston Market has hung in the balance for years due to a longstanding feud over a proposed residential development at the site. However, a reprieve was granted in the form of five-year leases for stallholders and the market is bustling with shoppers carefully assessing the piles of fruit and vegetables underneath a sign that reads “affordable value”. Friends from when their kids were babies, Jen McKinney and Jackie Goatcher have been coming to the Preston Market to meet for lunch and do their shopping every Friday for the last few years. “People are friendly it’s a nice happy environment with good prices,” Goatcher says. “I like the cheaper cuts of stuff and the offal, you can get any part of any animal you want here.” They live in Ivanhoe and drive to the market. Goatcher says she used to shop at the Queen Victoria market but now prefers Preston. “It has a bit more of a vibe and it’s not so hectic,” she says. “You don’t have to queue, you don’t have to fight people for space.”
South Melbourne Market It’s 10.30am at the South Melbourne Market and already people are standing in clusters at bar tables around Aptus Seafood eating bamboo plates of fresh crayfish for $44.99. One woman films the other poised with her fork about to dig into the white flesh on their mobile phone while just down the aisle at Ralph’s Meats a butcher is bantering with a customer about the upcoming Collingwood game. Well-heeled shoppers can spend $80 on a bottle of imported olive oil in the deli aisle before visiting Hagen’s organic butcher fitted out with peach terrazzo tiling – more reminiscent of a day spa than a butcher’s shop. However, there are also shoppers filling up their bags with fresh produce like bananas for $2.99 a kilo or waiting in line for the croissants and burnt basque cheesecake at Agathe Patisserie which are so popular that the store has had to set up a special queuing system with ropes like a nightclub. There’s a fresh pasta shop, a store specialising in soft white balls of burrata and a Polish deli where shoppers can buy gypsy sausages and onion herrings. The market isn’t limited to food, shoppers can also get a haircut at Mister Handsome Barber Shop, get their eyebrows threaded and pick up anything from a terrarium to a rug for their home.
Queen Victoria Market Shoppers in the deli hall at the Queen Victoria market browse the historic counters groaning with wheels of cheese, sliced meats and loaves of freshly baked bread. The market first opened on 20 March 1878 and while a lot has changed in that time, some things have stayed the same. Tourists wander the aisles brushing shoulders with school kids on a tour and regular shoppers with their trollies loaded with produce. “Marinated kangaroo fillet,” one says, peering through the glass at a butchers counter. “Can’t take that back in the carry on.” A new food hall opened last year and parts of the market are still a construction zone but locals like the Friends of Queen Victoria Market group are watching closely to make sure any changes retain the market’s spirit. Trader Nancy Policheni has run her stall at The Apple Corner for 29 years and says it’s not an easy job with 3am starts to set up, but it’s the relationship with her customers that keeps her going. “The market has got something for everyone,” she says.
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