Update from the EO

Hello to all of our wonderful businesses,

First let me say well done to everyone in the city. Your shop windows are looking amazing, your shelves are full of beautiful stock and it is making it very easy for our team to encourage everyone to shop local and spend time in the city this year.

Thanks to City of Launceston investing in new foliage and decorations for the Christmas tree and the great baubles and lights. We are looking forward to them being added to every year to spread out to the other streets within the city as we think they look great and public sentiment has been very positive.

Launceston Central strategy day

Our board and operations team held our annual strategy day last month. We had a great day hearing from Dr Louise Grimmer on some of the latest consumer trends from across Australia – a talk that I would like to arrange for all of you to come to in the new year. It’s great information on how people are shopping now and what they are looking for.

We tweaked our strategy and now as Launceston Central Inc. we have a clear path forward to focus on spreading the shop local message, keep leading the way with activations and events that are led by and engage local business and keep sending out the stories behind your businesses that we know the public respond to.

Reminder to be Kinder

We have been working hard with Tasmania Police, City of Launceston and various other stakeholders in relation to the anti-social behaviour that occurs in the city. City of Launceston are about to launch a campaign ‘Reminder to be Kinder’. Keep an eye on the stakeholder FB group for the assets and encourage everyone to put up posters, make social media posts and use it to remind any customers who are not doing as they should.

Tasmania Police have increased the number of police officers who patrol the city over the last year, with a further increase to come. Inspector Craig Fox is going to attend a retail event for us next year so you know how the police handle any incidents and the best thing you can do. It is always to call the local police number to report any undesirable behaviour. Crime Stoppers is also another good option and many of you do a great job of communicating through the Launceston Retail Watch page. We will continue to put out positive press and work to activate the city so it is a safe and appealing place for all.

Christmas activations

Christmas activations are all now underway – please help us promote the Lost Reindeers competitions. The app is very easy to download and kids can listen to Santa himself giving the clues of where to find his reindeer throughout the Launceston CBD. There are great prizes to be won for those who enter and the reindeer are spread out so that families will cover lots of ground and be walking past as many shops as possible.

Please share our posts on this and the hashtag competition for the best Christmas window competition on your socials and tell your customers. It will keep people visiting the city and staying for longer.

Year ahead

Once we are back in the New Year we will be in touch with key dates for 2024, including the organisation for Boutique Week and Super Sale Saturday.

If you are interested in putting on a special event for Boutique Week such as pairing with an industry expert, invite customers in for a sneak preview of a new range or show them some beauty and hair techniques then please let us know. Madi and I will work with you to curate some great experiences to reach new local customers and increase the profile of your business through your involvement.

Finally, a thank you to my hard working team. There are five us (four part time), that work really hard to promote the city and your businesses and they all genuinely love Launceston and our shops, cafes, services and restaurants. They have done some amazing work with the new branding and huge events over the last year and we are looking forward to building launcestoncentral.com.au and our socials as the MUST GO place to find out what’s happening in the city. We share your posts all the time so make sure you are tagging #launcestoncentral and letting us know when you have something special on.

Best of luck for the festive season ahead. May it be bustling and full of happy locals spending in your stores and venues.

Hope you get some lovely days off with loved ones too.

Amanda McEvoy

Executive Officer

Launceston Central