Darley Street: Episode Three – Let’s get together.
by Steve Gray
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Gail from the Accountants is going through a quiet time of the year at her practice, she loves the area, the range of shops and so on and most of the proprietors. She’s thinking of doing a get-together. A chance to do some social chit chat and perhaps even add in a bit of business success chat just for good measure.
She wanders up and down the street, casually chatting about the idea and gauging interest. Yes is the reply, especially as she’s intending to pay for it all, just as a gesture of good corporate citizenship. The truth is, she had to rack up some business expenses or pay too much tax; no one wants to pay too much tax!
Not long after, the shop on the corner of Hill and Darley Street got a clean out. Not that it was a mess, but dusty from sitting for so long. The windows soon sparkled with a solid clean.
Rex pointed out to Sally that a crew was in there this morning, ‘sprucing the place up.’ They chatted about the catch-up and what that might mean. Most felt that it would just be a nice way to catch up socially, but others wondered if Gail was not simply touting for more business.
Tom came in a bit later and mentioned that he got the job of catering for the ‘event', It was on a Tuesday, generally a quiet time of the week, so a nice little boost to the coffers.
Gail hired some tables and chairs. She had hand-picked an MC with a good knowledge of smaller business issues to chat to the crowd and entertain. Dan Rogers.
Shops closed for the afternoon, then most of the shopkeepers and their staff headed across to the much-anticipated event. Food and drinks on arrival, people mingled, some not even aware that some of the people in the room even worked in the street, until now.
Maye Lin and Tammy Jane from The Canvas Crepe were first in the door, followed by Rex, Sally and Soren from the Bookshop. Tom and his two off-siders, Alice and Francis, were in and out with food and drinks, and things settled. His night staff, Aaron and Rachel, were preparing food in the kitchen; they would drop in later.
Chloe from Chapter Two Books was next with her partner, Gary. Carlos was on his own. He later said he should have invited his staff. Artie from the Clockwork Cobbler came in with his part-timer Jo, Dan and Pat from the nursery, then Laura Jane from the Laundrette.
Gail’s team, Karen, Hailey and Barry were in early and made sure that name tags were handed out.
Jen from Fab Foods did her best to encourage all her staff to turn up; after all, it was a free feed. There was Kevin, Yousef and Laura; Rachel had other commitments.
That was all of the local businesses at this stage; there were more to come as people filled the empty shops. In the background, everyone knew that new shops were coming, but what they would or would not be, now that was the real question.
Gail knew that the renovated shop was to become a bakery, but she liked letting people try to nut things out; often, it was hard to tell until the last part of the fit-out took place. In this case, it would be a while yet.
Dan Rogers entertained and chatted about the various businesses, the local business climate, and some strategic business tips to assist in making things more successful.
A few more drinks were had, some phone numbers swapped by the single and ‘not so single’ as the drinks went to people’s heads.
Gail caught up with Sally the next day, ‘The event went well? What did you think? Sally loved every minute of it, especially the discussions on customer service and all that. Hopefully, we can do a similar event soon, and hopefully, others will see the value in it. Gail moved on and completed her casual survey; people were indeed impressed.
That morning, a cleanup crew got things back into order. Sally pondered what sort of business would work well in that spot; it’s in a prime position. She imagined a few things, a massage shop, hmm, nope, something classier… A chemist, but not one of the big discount ones.
In the background, things were ‘bubbling away’, emails and text messages were sent, rumours started to swell, Tammy was talking to Barry, Tammy was chatting with Dan, and there was a whole lot more happening.
The Facebook page for the shops lit up later in the morning with various things discussed; mostly, it was people praising Gail's efforts.
Thoughts explored various notions, such as a social get-together and a more structured business development program.
Sally sat back and smiled, feeling good about how things were working in the street. She was curious what shops would open next. She was also rather coy about who she was chatting with last night.
Later in the day, Sally wandered down to chat to Chloe. They had been talking about putting on some staff to help Chloe in the shop, and last night's chat sparked renewed interest in that idea.
No two days were the same in Darley Street; people come, and people go. Tuesday evenings were no exception.
Stay tuned for the next episode of Darley Street on Wednesday 17 June!
More from Steve Gray
Steve writes with passion and intrigue, aiming to inspire and or raise awareness of topics. His poetry can take abstract turns, and his 'Odd Angry Writes' on his website are sure to turn heads with his aggressive approach to topics.
A background in Art and Design, as well as teaching, often gives his written pieces a unique creative perspective.
Like many, he is an ADHD person with some neurodiverse edges. A bunch of E books under his belt and some honourable mentions in the Geelong Writers Group puts his work in good standing.
