There's a new bike in town

Walking home yesterday, I was delighted to see that opposite my house is the new depot for a Fremantle pedicab business.

I went inside to have a chat.  They just started yesterday and are still assembling the bikes, which are imported from the USA and cost quite a bit.

The cabs will operate just like a taxi.  They pick up and drop off anywhere reasonable, I guess, and the driver will wait around at the drop-off point for their next customer - or just go roaming for them.

Surprisingly they will operate from 12.00 noon thru to 6.00am.

They're just fitting out their little depot/drivers lounge at 27 Queen Victoria Street.  There are some nice diagrams on their concrete floor which will be painted over which I shot for posterity.

On speaking to the owner, Rick Ferris, I promised to introduce him to key people in the Fremantle tourism industry so he can hit the ground running.  Good luck, mate.  This is a very interesting use for Queen Victoria Street.

Billie & Rose and Hush Espresso on Market Street

Billie and Rose, 30 Market Street, Fremantle, Australia

Hush Espresso, 30 Market Street

Spot the graffiti 7

This is just the type of thing you want to keep.  Thoughtfully planned, well located, improves the location.  Genius.

Kakulas Sister, 29 Market Street, Fremantle, AustraliaWe've seen this guy once before ...

Good shop - bad shop

One retailer spends time cleaning and dusting the shopfront display.  The other one is Cash Converters.

Top photo: Elizabeth's Bookshops, 8 South Terrace, Fremantle, Australia.

Bottom photos: Cash Converters, 180 Smith Street, Collingwood.

Beautiful Bikes #6 in Collingwood

Very well yarn bombed bike racks in Collingwood.

Complete genius surfaces again

Hello everybody!

After a hiatus, I open the bidding with a pictorial story of Kings Square in Fremantle.

Why not indeed?

The artist is complete genius, Horatio T Birdbath

Come to Fremantle's Kings Square to see him do another 6 and a half bollards over the coming weeks.

Street art by Horatio T Birdbath

Height And Light 2

The Il Circolo shopfront in North Perth has many square panes (transom lights).

Not only is this shop taller than normal (3.65m or 12') but the transom lights allow additional, diffused light inside.

Whether you are in or outside of the shop you have an improved view.

Providing better sensory experiences attracts customers to our commercial districts.

Shopfronts are step number one.  Build them and maintain them well.  Just like this one.

Il Circolo, 124 Angove Street, North Perth, Australia

Cool cars on the high street 9

Canoe car, Oxford Street, Leederville, Australia

Atlas Devine, 121 Oxford Street, Leederville, Australia

Crack no distraction for working man

Louis Vuitton in King Street, Perth

Louis Vuitton in King Street, Perth, Australia

Before and after

As reported earlier a newsagency has closed, leaving a typical, lonely shell.

But it is alive!

Gysiana has moved in.

Before

After

Gypsiana, 747 Newcastle Street, Leederville, Australia

A very clever and inexpensive fitout.

You can see they have preserved the interesting and ancient Leederville Newsagency sign.

Smart people!

Bent Shopfronts Are Best

Recessed shopfront guide our eye into the shop.

They also provide more angles for the passer-by to see what's on offer.

Morrison, 57 Market Street, Fremantle, Australia

Rude Architecture Shown Some Manners

A point of shopfront design rudely ignored in modern architecture are transom lights.

These are the small stained glass squares as shown in this photo.

Many new shopfronts are not tall enough to have them.

The height to the top of the door of this shop is 2.64m (8'8").  The height of the entire shopfront is 3.59m (12'1")

Photo: Leona Edmiston Vintage Outlet Store, 123 Greville Street, Prahran, Australia

Good Shop, Bad Shop 2

Compare the level of care these two retailers give to their shopfronts.  To their customers.  To their neighbours.  To their communites.

Strengthening our communities means maintaining a warm invitation to people.

Every retailer says they know this but only the best do it.

Top photo: Aesop, 143 Greville Street, Prahan, Australia

Bottom photo: Chemist Warehouse, 121 Carlisle Street, Balaclava, Australia

Once upon a time this was an ordinary street

Once upon a time - not very long ago - this was a very ordinary commercial street.

Now it is vibrant.

Something must have happened.

It did.

All thanks must be given to MilkD - the espresso bar who chose to open in this street first.

They attracted the foot traffic.

Other businesses followed.

It s now an amazing commercial district with a great parade of shops.

Retailers are always the core of vibrant commercial district.

Check back soon to see why this street has worked.

Shop-a-dog 6

Il Circolo, 22 Angove Street, North Perth, Australia

Check back soon for some more on this amazing cluster of shops - Angove Street in North Perth, Australia.

Where's Chanel going? In here

These are the shops that used to be here.

Chanel fitting out in Perth

Check back soon.  I will show the shop that used to be there.

Kings collide

This is Kings Square in Fremantle, Australia.

This is Mad Hatter Markets in Kings Square.

Mad Hatter Markets increases foot traffic in Kings Square.

The manager of Myer - Australia's largest department store chain - was introduced to the owner of the Mad Hatter Markets.

Look what happened.

The trail of markets now leads to the department store.

And Myer crept out of its shell.

So its stock was brought outside too.

This is the view from the Myer entry.

And jackpot!

A lady with fresh flowers from the market going into Myer.

Mad Hatters Markets vs Myer.

Result: equality.

All businesses want great foot traffic.  Can you make them work together?

Photo: manager of Myer Fremantle Jeremy Njo and owner of Mad Hatter Markets, Simon Howes

PS: Jeremy Njo has now moved to the Apple Store Perth - one of the most successful Apple's stores in the world.