Enhancing the local food movement: A feasibility/business plan for
Transcription
Enhancing the local food movement: A feasibility/business plan for
Enhancing the local food movement: A feasibility/business plan for a public food market in Downtown Victoria Prepared for The Victoria Downtown Public Market Society Prepared by Darren Stott, Janine de La Salle, HB Lanarc-Golder David Van Seters, President, Sustainability Ventures March 2012 Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 1 Disclaimer This document was funded in part by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of B.C. through the Agri-Food Futures Fund, Islands Agri-Food Initiative, a provincial trust funded from money under the former federal-provincial safety nets framework. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the BC Ministry of Agricultures are committed to working with industry partners. Opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funding partners. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 2 Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 3 Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 6 1.1. 1.2. 1.3. 2. Overview of Public Markets .................................................................................................... 9 2.1. 2.2. 2.3. 2.4. 2.5. 2.6. 3. Introduction.................................................................................................................... 25 Core Activities and Responsibilities for Governing Local Food Markets ....................... 25 Governance Objectivesof the VDPM.............................................................................. 26 Key Governance Partners ............................................................................................... 26 Feedback from the February 10th workshop ................................................................ 27 Rationale for Private Entity Involvement in Local Food Market Governance ............... 28 Governance Success Factors for the Private-Non Profit Governance Model ................ 28 Governance Recommendations ..................................................................................... 29 Lease Policy Recommendations ..................................................................................... 31 Preliminary Budget Plan ....................................................................................................... 32 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. 5.4. 6. Vision of a Victoria Downtown Public Market ............................................................... 16 Attributes of a Successful Market: Stakeholder Feedback Summary ........................... 17 Ideal Location Criteria for the VDPM ............................................................................. 18 Business Units and Key Performance areas of the VDPM ............................................. 19 Mix of Vendors ............................................................................................................... 23 Staffing, Hours of Operations, Amenities and Services ................................................. 23 Regulations Relevant to VDPM ...................................................................................... 24 Governance Discussion and Recommendations................................................................... 25 4.1. 4.2. 4.3. 4.4. 4.5. 4.6. 4.7. 4.8. 4.9. 5. Characteristics of public markets ................................................................................... 10 Overview of public markets ........................................................................................... 10 The economics of public markets .................................................................................. 11 The governance and policies of public markets ............................................................. 12 Benefits of public markets ............................................................................................. 12 Key success factors of public markets ............................................................................ 14 Vision and Key Elements of the Victoria Downtown Public Market .................................... 16 3.1. 3.2. 3.3. 3.4. 3.5. 3.6. 3.7. 4. Background....................................................................................................................... 6 Purpose and objectives of this plan ................................................................................. 7 Relevant trends in the local food sector .......................................................................... 7 Cost structure of a public market................................................................................... 32 Rental structure to tenants ............................................................................................ 33 Estimated vendor revenues and mix of vendors ........................................................... 34 Competitive Analysis ...................................................................................................... 37 Financial and Implementation Plan ...................................................................................... 38 6.1. 6.2. 6.3. Five year financial projections ....................................................................................... 38 Vendor rental affordability analysis ............................................................................... 41 Some cautionary notes about the projections............................................................... 41 Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 4 6.4. 6.5. 6.6. 6.7. 7. Initial capital and leasehold improvement costs ........................................................... 42 Pre-opening costs and timeline ..................................................................................... 43 Key implementation tasks .............................................................................................. 44 Post launch duties .......................................................................................................... 44 Future Research Needs ......................................................................................................... 45 Appendices ................................................................................................................................ 47 Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 5 1. Introduction 1.1. Background Support for local and sustainable food is very strong and growing among residents of Victoria, British Columbia. This is reflected in expanded local food offerings in Victoria food stores. It can also be seen in the growth of alternative food enterprises such as seasonal farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture enterprises and local food delivery services. However, unlike other cities with strong local food demand, there is no year round, permanent, indoor public food market where people can find a full range of local and sustainably produced foods at one location. To address this opportunity, a new group called the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society (VDPMS) was established in August 2010 to raise awareness, support and funds to establish a permanent, year-round, indoor marketplace in the downtown core of the Victoria. The VDPMS is volunteer-driven non-profit organization consisting of a six person Board and four core organizers. They envision a market that: • • • • • • • • Eat Hear Now Festival, Victoria showcases a full range of local foods and selected artisan crafts, expands the local food economy and creative entrepreneurial activity, improves food security, including the protection of local farmland, serves as an important meeting place between producers and consumers, educates the public about urban agriculture, health/nutrition, and innovative local cuisine, reduces food miles and carbon related emissions, enhances the walkable urban design and livability of the downtown core, and creates a vibrant, cultural experience for residents and visitors alike. To help move towards this goal the VDPMS organized a number of summer and winter markets in Victoria. These events have built relationships within the food community and given the VDPMS a better understanding of the needs and constraints of farmers and artisan food producers with respect to the development of a public market. In addition the VDPMS has organized two “Eat Here Now” local food festivals to catalyze strong community support for the Public Market and to celebrate those who make, bake or grow it. These events have been very successful, attracting 5,000 people in the first year and 10,000 Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 6 people in the second year. Both events were the two largest food festivals on Vancouver Island. 1.2. Purpose and objectives of this plan The primary purpose of this high-level business plan is to assess the overall feasibility and key financial/performance metrics for a permanent indoor, public food market in the downtown core of Victoria. Supporting objectives of the plan are to: • • • • • review the key metrics of similar markets in North America, discuss regulations and stakeholder needs for the market, identify key success criteria, including site selection, space requirements, range of tenants, etc. present a recommended governance and management structure for the market, and provide high level financial projections and capital construction requirements, if any. The plan has been developed with one particular site in mind that looks promising. However, this plan is designed to be applicable to a range of sites. 1.3. Relevant trends in the local food sector The opportunity to create a permanent public food market arises from a number of important, long-term trends. The trends include the following: • A significant percentage of food purchased on Vancouver Island is imported While Vancouver Island imports less food than other parts of the province, a significant percentage is still imported. This creates risks because if oil shortages or earthquakes interrupted imported food suppliers, Victoria’s supply of some types of fresh foods would only last a few days1. • Small, independent food producers find it difficult to sell through conventional channels The majority of farms on Vancouver Island are 10 acres are less. These small farms do not produce enough volume to supply most food wholesalers or they lack the necessary equipment to store and deliver their products. Their prices are also often higher due to a lack of economies of scale. 1 Farm Folk/City Folk, “Bringing Food Home”, March 15, 2006 Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 7 • Support for buying locally is growing Vancouver Islanders are increasingly seeking out locally and sustainably produce foods and are demonstrating a willingness to pay extra for it because they believe it has many benefits over “regular” food. • People want to know where their food comes from As more people buy locally, they are also keen to learn more about where their food comes from, including who produced it, how it was produced and when it was produced, fished, or harvested. • Public markets are surging in popularity again after a long period of decline Public food markets were once the centerpiece of many communities in North America. However, with the advent of shopping malls most were closed, torn down or converted to other uses. However, they are now making a comeback, attracting people back to public spaces in downtowns or neighbourhoods. A permanent public food market is congruent with and/or helps improve on all these trends. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 8 2. Overview of Public Markets To help VDPMS understand the dynamics of public markets, what makes them work, what their objectives are, what makes a successful market and most importantly the business case of launching a public market in Victoria, we benchmarked 9 public markets across North America. We selected markets that were successful, similar in population size to Victoria and of a similar type to that proposed for the Victoria Downtown Public Food Market. This was helpful in identifying the most appropriate metrics/characteristics for the Victoria Public Market. Further details can be found in the Overview of Public Markets report, which includes the detailed answers from our benchmarking work. Historically, public markets were centrally located, city owned and operated buildings where vendors sold fresh, raw foods in open stalls. Today, the types of public markets have expanded greatly, Covent Garden Public Market, London, Ontario including the breadth of products they offer and the range of organizations that own and operate them. At their core, public markets are simply a group of vendors who meet at a particular location on a regular basis and that are governed by an entity that has legal or financial authority for the market and operational control over the facilities that house the market. Generally speaking, most markets only survive if they can find a way to fully burden their costs from operations after an initial startup period. Modern day markets typically operate in a very competitive retail environment and need constant promotion and professional onsite management. Because markets provide a range of public goals in addition to being financially reliable, they typically need some form of financial support to cover capital costs, start up expenses, and to cover initial operating losses until the market is well established. This is certainly the case for the Victoria Downtown Public Market. In fact, throughout its life, the Victoria public market will need to carefully blend and balance its financial and community objectives. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 9 2.1. Characteristics of public markets Public food markets have 3 defining characteristics:2 • A set of community goals that typically support local agriculture, provide opportunities for small businesses, and enhance community engagement. • A public space where people can gather, be safe and enjoy themselves, as well as to interact with others and engage in community activities • An animation of public and private realms by offering an alternative to the generic shopping experience at a shopping mall or supermarket. Public markets are made up of multiple owner operated small businesses, which adds to the variety of offerings and enhances the experience. The above characteristics of public markets set them apart from other food retail establishments and should drive the core priorities of any public market. Beyond these common characteristics, public food markets vary widely in terms of: • • • • Size Duration of operations Type of vendors Location The most appropriate characteristics of a public market depend on the needs of the community and the availability of appropriate facilities. We discuss this further in chapter 3 and begin to recommend the characteristics of a public market in Victoria. 2.2. Overview of public markets Based on criteria similar to Victoria Downtown Public Market we selected and benchmarked 9 public markets. Below are their key characteristics; Table 2.1 List of benchmarked public markets and their key characteristics 2 Project for Public Spaces - Public Markets 2003 report http://www.pps.org/pdf/Ford_Report.pdf Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 10 Each market is very different from the other depending on the size, history and culture of the city. Below we identify the key strengths of each market that is relevant to Victoria. 2.3. The economics of public markets • Revenues - ranged from a few hundred dollars per day per vendor to $3,000/weekday/vendor and $5,000/weekend day/vendor. Covent Garden saw a significant increase in sales of 40% from 2003 to present. Windsor reported a 20% decline over the past 5 years due to a difficult economy. • Visitors -ranged from a few hundred per day to 15,000 per day, depending on the time of year and size and success of the market. • Vendor fees - varied widely and ranged from $17 to $70/sq. ft. (this includes all fees e.g. rent, utilities, and promotional charges). The more successful markets had a multi-level fee structure which had rent, management fees and promotional fees separate. • Leases - ranged from daily rates to 5 year leases. Longer leases typically had lower staff fees. The downside of long term leases is the difficulty of replacing poor performing vendors. Table 2.2 Overview of Public Market fees Name and location of Market Covent Garden, London, Ontario Stall rental fees Common area fees $19.25/ sq. ft Promotion al fees $1k/ annum Daily rates $15 to $20/day Daily rates $20 to $35/day plus8% of gross>$400 None 6% of sales Hydro & refrigerat ion None St. John City Market, St. John Spokane Public Market, Spokane None None None Windsor Market Square, Windsor River Market, Little Rock Kitchener Public Market, Kitchener Marches Publics, JeanTalon market, Montreal Santa Barbara Public Market, Santa Barbara Granville Island, Vancouver $12 to $16 sq. ft. None None $10/sq. ft. $35/day $17/sq. ft. None None None $8.50/sq.ft plus 4% of sales complex fee structure Utilities Other market revenues parking parking Unknown $40 to $65 /sq. ft. plus 4 % of sales (above a threshold) Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 Parking office &cooler space rental 11 • Leasehold improvement costs – varied widely from $5/sq.ft to $60/sq.ft. It was also not clear how long the costs were charged back for. Financing for the construction and/or improvements of the market came from bank loans, mortgages, government loans and some grants. As with the vendor revenues, we found it difficult to obtain reliable operating costs for the markets. 2.4. The governance and policies of public markets Most market buildings are either owned/secured by a developer or a municipality. In the case of government secured or owned properties, a separate organization is normally setup that runs the operation e.g. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (Granville Island). Developer run or privately run businesses tend to take a typical landlord approach and manage the vendors as tenants e.g. Santa Barbara Public Market has a vendor association. Staffing levels range from 4 to 20 people, depending on the size of the market. The structure normally consists of market manager, administration staff and janitors. Other roles tend to be outsourced such as financing, promotions and maintenance. In some cases, janitors are also outsourced. Marche Publics, Montreal St. John City Market, New Brunswick Most markets have either guidelines or loose policies stipulating that vendors must be local and/or sell local products and that they must be independent (not part of a retail chain). Markets also placed a higher priority on supporting the community rather than maximizing financial returns. 2.5. Benefits of public markets As mentioned above, most of the markets we spoke with see their primary roles as providing a social benefit to the community. Through our research we identified 9 benefits of year round public food markets, as follows: Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 12 • Increased civic engagement - Communities that provide space for local businesses to co-locate in a public venue result in greater civic welfare, less social strife, and greater equality.3 • Improved community economies - Many studies have documented that a dollar spent on a local business yields two to four times the “economic multiplier”—the underlying source of income, wealth and jobs—as an equivalent nonlocal business.4 • Improved sustainability - Local food helps reduce GHG emissions and food waste as it shrinks the distribution network. • New local jobs - A study in Detroit identified that shifting 20% of food spending to healthy produce increases annual (farm)revenue and creates more than 4,700 jobs paying more than $125 million in wages; and produce nearly $20 million in business taxes each year5. Marches Publics, Montreal • Increased food security - Recent research indicates that there are only a few days of food reserves to feed urban populations in Canada if there was a disruption to our food supply. 1,500 hectares of agricultural land has been removed from the Vancouver Island ALR between 1974 and 20096. • New business opportunities – Public food markets can become an anchor around which other complementary businesses can thrive such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) distribution and medium sized processors. • Support regional food strategies: o Priority actions within the Capital Region Food and Health Action Plan7 include protect farmland and strengthen food system infrastructure and organizations. 3See, e.g.: C. Wright Mills and Melville Ulmer, “Small Business and Civic Welfare,” in Report of the Smaller War Plants Corporation to the Special Committee to Study Problems of American Small Business, Document 135. U.S. Senate, 79th Congress, 2nd session, February 13. (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946); and Thomas A. Lyson, “Big Business and Community Welfare: Revisiting A Classic Study,” monograph (Cornell University Department of Rural Sociology, Ithaca, NY, 2001), p. 3. 4“Economic Impact Analysis: A Case Study,” monograph (Civic Economics, Austin, Texas, December 2002); and “The Andersonville Study of Retail Economics,” monograph (Civic Economics, Austin, Texas, October 2004). 5 Study conducted by Michael H. Shuman, an economist, attorney and vice president for enterprise development for Training & Development Corp. in Bucksport, Maine.http://www.fairfoodnetwork.org/sites/default/files/Economic%20Impact%20of%20Localizing%20Detroit%20Food% 20System.pdf 6http://sustainability.crd.bc.ca/media/1236/food_security_policy_brief_small.pdf Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 13 o A key recommendation of the City of Victoria draft official community plan is for a year-round downtown farmers’ market8. • Support for Provincial government initiatives – these include initiatives around health, climate change and water resources. • Animating the public and private realm - markets add to the mix and interest of downtowns and edges of town. With customer interest and willingness to purchase local food at a premium9, local food markets draw people from many different areas of a town or city. 2.6. Key success factors of public markets Based primarily on our interviews with the benchmark markets, we identified the following key success factors for public markets. • Collaborative vendors – the number one reason given for a successful market by most of the markets was vendors that were highly supportive, engaged and interested in the success of the market as a whole. • High quality vendors – the vendors are the market so it is essential they have an excellent and memorable customer service and offer unique, high quality products. • Diversity of vendors – it is advantageous to have a good range of vendors that cover the key aspects of a healthy diet, including vendors that offer produce, breads, dairy, meat and seafood. Inparticular, markets need to carefully decide how many non-food vendors they want to allow. The markets we looked at only had a few permanent non-food vendors. • Self-funding economics – while various markets have received grants for the planning of their markets and construction of the market itself, it is highly beneficial that after launching that they be completely self-funding from market revenues. • A range of raw ingredients to fully prepared meals – not everyone is a cook but everyone eats, so markets that offer a range of foods from raw ingredients through to fully prepared meals, will best meet the needs of customers and maximize revenues. • An effective promotional strategy – successful markets have a strong promotional strategy that includes a calendar of events, mainstream advertising (paid and unpaid) e.g. 7http://sustainability.crd.bc.ca/media/1236/food_security_policy_brief_small.pdf 8 http://www.shapeyourfuturevictoria.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/OCP_2011_Sec16_FoodSystems.pdf 9http://www.extension.iastate.edu/NR/rdonlyres/B0D64A49-9FA9-410E-849A31865EFECE91/159401/OrtizA.pdf Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 14 radio and print ad and engages their vendors and customers. Most markets use social media (website, Facebook and Twitter) and stated it helped with their vendor revenues e.g. Covent Garden employs someone to Tweet live from the market, including answering questions about what is on offer and recipe recommendations. Successful markets also leveraged their vendors to promote themselves and the market via various means including Twitter and Facebook. • A good marketing manager – to manage and execute the above factors, public markets need a capable and driven market manager with excellent interpersonal skills. It is key market managers are paid staff members, as some markets expressed a frustration working with volunteers (staff or board). • A central location – visiting a public market is a recreational activity and an experience. It is part of a day out for a family or a time to unwind after work. It therefore needs to be very central and be housed in a nice venue that is visually appealing and causes people to linger. • Common area - most markets offer plenty of common area space, accounting for more than 30% of total space (including seating areas and washrooms). Markets we looked at offered children’s play area, free Wi-Fi and commissary kitchens which are used primarily as educational facilities for cooking classes and demonstrations. Some markets, like Granville Island, were part of a larger complex that offered numerous amenities on site. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 15 3. Vision and Key Elements of the Victoria Downtown Public Market This section presents the vision and key elements (users, size, and support systems) for the Victoria downtown public market. An initial concept plan showing how the various components of the market fit together and are related is also presented. The information presented below is based on vendor input (from the workshop and survey conducted by the VDPMS), baseline research into other markets, and recommendations from the consulting team. 3.1. Vision of a Victoria Downtown Public Market The following statements are excerpts from grants submitted by Victoria Downtown Public Market Society (VDPMS) and help create an idea of what a public market would look like in downtown Victoria: A thriving local food-centered market in downtown Victoria to support direct local food producerto consumer-sales, increase local food security and community health, educate the public and protect local farmland. A local food-centered market in downtown Victoria will showcase locally cultivated, harvested and produced food products like in-season fruits and vegetables, island meats, mushrooms, cheese, fish, artisan breads, beer, wine and preserves. The market will serve to connect farmers and creative small food-centered businesses to local customers as well as thousands of visitors to Greater Victoria. This will generate increased awareness of local food and support for food producers, enhance public health, increase social capital, and in turn help protect local farmland. The mission of a permanent local foodcentered market in downtown Victoria is threefold: 1) It will showcase innovative, quality local food products, especially farmed, fished and value-added goods, and help creative entrepreneurs grow to their potential. Additionally, this will increase food security, and protect local farmland. 2) It will provide a focus of food-related education and activity to the downtown community such as education in urban agriculture and culinary classes, food related speaker series, a demonstration kitchen, farmers' market nutrition Pike Place Market, Seattle coupon project for low income families, and public outreach on food security issues. 3) It will improve the walkable urban design of the downtown core and reduce overall food miles for local residents, thereby supporting and celebrating sustainable life choices and improving the overall livability of our regional for residents and adding to the cultural experience of visitors. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 16 3.2. Attributes of a Successful Market: Stakeholder Feedback Summary Stakeholder needs were identified through a number of surveys and discussions with businesses and organizations in and around the city of Victoria. These included a 3 hour workshop with over 60 attendees and a survey of 15 possible tenants to the market. Details of the workshop feedback can be found in Workshop Summary for VDPMS report. The project team used this feedback to develop the overall model for the market, attributes of a successful market include: • Downtown location because it reduces travel, is near lots of customers and there are other things to do. • 20,000 sq. ft. space, but if possible try and start smaller and increase over time. Fifteen possible tenants selected space as follows: 7 x 500 sq.ft., 6 x 1000 sq.ft., 1 x temporary stall, and 1 x 3 to 8000 sq.ft. • The number of vendors will depend on the location, but avoid being a food court. • There needs to be a variety of vendors, food and non-food, that also change over time. • Offer numerous amenities at the market including: o Wi-Fi o Meeting place o Eating area o Strolling musicians and stage / performance area o Educational program/ documentaries o Demonstration kitchen o Family friendly e.g. play area • The design of the market needs to be basic, cost effective and practical for the running of a public market. • The public market needs to be a destination place that builds community around food. • The preferred governance is a Non-profit because it has a lower cost, mix board and tax advantages. However this does have some issues such as experience and lack of cohesion. • The rental fees should be: o $20 to $30 for temporary stalls. o Rental structure for permanent vendors plus utilities. • There should be options for daily rentals of stalls, for example farmers. • The reselling of locally produced/grown food should be facilitated. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 17 3.3. Ideal Location Criteria for the VDPM An ideal location for a public market would include most if not all of the following: • High population density (residents, employees, tourists, students) traffic. Some markets stated their growth was positively correlated with increased densification of their neighbourhood (e.g. Covent Garden Market). • • • • • • • Higher than average household income demographic Good accessibility for both private and public transport Parking facilities, preferably free 10 or more other nearby amenities e.g. other retail, library, park, community centre. A draw for a large number of tourists Affordable rent Services and facilities key for a public market e.g. loading bays, large open space, and area for an outdoor market. The Hudson During the process of assessing the opportunity to establish a public market, VDPMS began a dialogue with Townline Developers, to determine if their new development called The Hudson would be an appropriate location for a public market10. The Hudson is a private development converting an old Hudson Bay retail store in downtown Victoria into 750 modern apartments(including additional towers behind the store) housing an estimated 2000 residents with retail space on the ground floor of the main building. Businesses located on the ground floor include: • Smoken Bones restaurant (locally owned Victoria institution) • Royal Bank of Canada • 2% Jazz Coffee Shop (locally owned) • Hot Yoga studio • Hair salon • Doctors The available space is 18,000 sq. ft., which could potentially allow VDPMS to have: • 6 x 1,000 sq. ft. permanent vendors • 10 x 500 sq. ft. permanent vendors • 5 to 10 temporary vendors in the middle • A commercial kitchen and/or 1,200 sq. ft. of office and meeting space • 6,000 sq. ft. of public common area space The lane behind The Hudson is also owned by the building and therefore provides an opportunity to run a small outdoor seasonal market. The public market, outdoor farmers’ 10 http://hudsonliving.ca Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 18 market and the other food retail businesses located at The Hudson, would be the largest concentration of food retail businesses in Victoria, making it a destination in itself. The vacant space is being offered at $15-20/sq. ft with further construction needed. Because the building is a heritage building, the first 5 years of lease payments will be tax free. Other locations Due to the progress of these discussions other sites have not been seriously considered. Other site options have been identified in previous research done on behalf of the City of Victoria11: • Causeway – good location for tourists but not considered viable for a food market. • Inner Harbour – good location for both tourists and residents as long as parking is affordable and the market can be integrated in to any redevelopments. • Bastion Square – has proven to be a good location for an arts and crafts market, but has loading issues for a more permanent food market. • Centennial Square –is considered too far north of the core Downtown shopping and tourist area and is not surrounded by other retail to support a full time public market. • The Crystal Gardens – is an area being redeveloped however lacks tourist pedestrian traffic. Note Centennial Square is in the vicinity of The Hudson. The above conclusion was compiled in 2009, with little knowledge of the developments currently happening within this area. Any decision to locate the market in this area will have to take into consideration the type, time and impact the developments will have. 3.4. Business Units and Key Performance areas of the VDPM The VDPM is a permanent, year round place to buy, enjoy, learn, and experience local food and local food producers. Drawing from research, input from Victoria-based vendors, and guidance from the VDPM Society, the following business units and performance areas summarize the different activities and physical/infrastructure requirements. Based on revenue projections in chapter 5 we recommend the maximum size of the indoor market should be 20,000 square feet. Business Unit or Performance Area Permanent local food retailers: These are businesses who are satellite retail locations of off-site businesses, small start-ups, and other who are open all year round. Space and location considerations Large: The business plan indicates that six large permanent vendors with 1000 sq ft each, comprising 6000 sq ft of the total market area, would be the ideal mix. This accounts for storage and a small amount of office space. Coriolis Consulting Corporation “Review of Bastion Square Public Market and Government Street Market – 2009” 11 Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 19 Total space for permanent vendors is 11,000 sq ft Small: The business plan indicates that ten small permanent vendors with about 500 sq ft each, comprising 5000 sq ft of the total market area would be the ideal mix. Both sizes of permanent vendors should be located near the main entrance of the market to draw people in and create year round interest in the highest profile location of the market. The nature of these businesses should be complimentary to the seasonal vendors, providing more emphasis on value-added products (e.g. meats, cheeses, beer, wine, bread, dairy, jams, chutneys, frozen goods etc.) Temporary direct marketers: These The temporary vendors have a designated space are vendors who choose to market within the market. Their location must be strategic their goods seasonally and are often so that when the temporary vendors are not selling directly from the farm. present, the market still feels full of activity and Total space for temporary vendors interest. The business plan indicates that space for is1,500 sq ft approximately fifteen vendors with about 100 sq ft each. These vendors would likely be focused on farm-direct produce, but may also include flowers and even artisan crafts. Demonstration/ The kitchen will act as a demonstration kitchen with teaching kitchen: The kitchen guest chefs preparing appetizers, healthy snacks, facility will serve several functions full meals etc. in front of an audience. The kitchen to promote goods on site as well as will also be made available to community provide a community facility for organizations that provide classes on food teaching and learning about preparation and preservation, and food safety. preparing and preserving local Storage, fridges, sinks, and power hook-ups for foods. large appliances are essential components of the Total space for the kitchen is 500 sq kitchen. The kitchen may be designed to be ft. movable to take over high-profile space of seasonal vendors and ensure the interest and activity in the market is maintained year round. Or the walls of the kitchen could be opened up in different sections depending on the need at the time. Another alternative to offer flexibility is to have multiple micro-kitchens throughout the market. The kitchen may also be used by vendors to test new products or process left-over and/or unloved products. Office and meeting space: The Given that the VDPMS does not currently have Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 20 office and meeting space would primarily serve the VDPMS but may be booked by other food-related organizations looking for meeting space. Total space for office and meeting space: 1,200 sq. ft. of Common area: The common area is a place to eat, relax, listen to performers, play, socialize and meet. Total space for the common area: 6000 sq ft (4500 sq ft excluding temporary vendors) Entrances: The main entranceway off of Douglas street must be instantly welcoming, inviting, and interesting. Outdoor space: While outdoor space for the market is limited at the Hudson location, there may be some opportunity to create a small outdoor vendor/seated area in the carriageway situated on the eastside of The Hudson. Victoria Downtown Public Market: office space, including some administrative and meeting space in the market will be important support for effective governance. The meeting space, possibly designed as a fish bowl, will add another activity into the market and provide an important community resource as a meeting space. The common area comprises almost 1/3 of the total area. Based on benchmarking other markets like Granville Island, common space should take up a significant portion of the overall. For the VDPM, the common space may have: - Kids play area (indoor equipment, containment area) - Performance area and stage (electrical hookups, lighting, background, audience area) - Seated areas (possibly with long tables, chairs, chesterfields and low coffee tables) - Display and event space (possibly for fundraisers, galas, book launches, and other community celebrations) The VDPM needs a highly visible entrance off of Douglas Street (or other main street) so that passers-by know that something special and interesting is happening inside. Also, just within the front doors a small lobby provides space for: - Event board (e.g. kitchen demo that day) - Fresh board (e.g. of what is on sale that day) - Registration table (e.g. for events) Also the back entrance and loading area need circulation and access space to ensure safe and easy goods and people movement though the market. The doors need to be large and have the ability to be fully opened and left open during the summer. The market can spill-out from the interior space to the outdoor drawing in pedestrian and bike traffic. Temporary vendor stalls as well as outdoor seated areas are good ways to expand the common/vending space while creating interest to draw people to the inside of the market. Also, later described in chapter 6, The business plan Business Plan March 2012 21 calls for a temporary 25 vendor outdoor farmers’ market. All of these business units and performance areas are depicted below as they fit into the Hudson floor plan. Concept Plan of VDPM at The Hudson Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 22 3.5. Mix of Vendors To meet the vision of VDPMS and because of the size of the market and the needs of the community we envision that the permanent vendors will all be food vendors. The inside temporary vendors can range from food, artisanal products and seasonal products (e.g. Christmas gifts) to add further variety to make the market attractive to potential customers. One possible combination of vendors could include: • • • • • • • • 2 produce vendors (1 conventional, 1 organic) 3 meat vendors (one seafood, one poultry, one beef) 2 bakeries 1 dairy vendor (milk, eggs, yogurt, cheese) 4 specialty vendors (coffee and tea, juice, dessert items, condiments, flowers) 3 prepared food vendors (wraps, ethnic foods, salad bar) Up to 15 seasonal/temporary vendors Up to 25 outdoor farmers’ market vendors (1 day per week, 22 weeks per year) 3.6. Staffing, Hours of Operations, Amenities and Services Staffing: A market of about 20,000 sq. ft. with 15 full time vendors and 10 to 30 temporary vendors will need a market manager, part time temporary-vendor manager and an administration person. Additional part-time seasonal volunteers maybe needed to help run the seasonal outdoor farmers’ market. Remaining services, such as legal and accounting, can be outsourced. Additional labour could be outsourced and/or absorbed by the owners of the building (e.g. cleaning and maintenance staff). Hours of operation: We recommend the market be open 7 days per week if it is located downtown and in a residential area. Due to the higher labour costs of long opening times, the mix of retail at the market and type of surrounding retail outlets, we recommend the market be open from 10am to 6pm. This will allow customers to do their grocery shopping during the lunch period or after work. We recommend that the market be open the same time each day for convenience and consistency. Six days per week is also an option, especially in the first few years, as this helps reduce labour costs for the vendors and provides time to do repairs. Most stalls will also be owner operated so it allows them some time off. In a small city such as Victoria mid-week days, such as Monday, tend to also be quiet for retailers. Amenities and services: The public market has to be a community destination as well as a food market. Amenities and services could include free Wi-Fi, roaming musicians/buskers, cooking classes, educational workshops and most importantly a strong events program through the year. These should be augmented with a comprehensive online presence Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 23 including an online events calendar, live Tweets during market day, vendor profiles and video of cooking classes and events. Emphasis on on-site production: To further enliven the market, all vendors should be encouraged to make their production tasks visible to the public so they can actually see them making their food. This might include coffee roasting, meat slicing, chickens roasting on spits, food cutting and chopping, kneading dough, food cooking and so on. 3.7. Regulations Relevant to VDPM No regulations or guidelines exist specifically for public markets in Victoria, just ones that relate to running a food retail business. These are discussed in detail in Appendix A. An outline of the key regulations and guidelines can be found below: City Bylaws and Licenses • Outdoor Market Bylaw12 • Business license13 Health Regulations • An indoor public market falls under the Public Health Act Food Premises Regulation14 • Temporary food market15guidelines • There are no specific health regulations for an on-site demonstration kitchen Building & Planning Regulations • Building development guidelines and the Zoning Regulation Bylaws16 • As with any renovations or construction, permits are needed • Parking regulations • Noise levels • Waste disposal • Odor bylaws Government Incentives • There is a property tax exemption for a non-profit organization17. • Property tax exemptions for any seismic upgrades18 done on heritage buildings. 12 http://www.victoria.ca/assets/City~Hall/Bylaws/bylaw-93-121.pdf http://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/business/permits-licences/business-licences.html 14 http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/11_210_99 15 http://www.bccdc.ca/NR/rdonlyres/8084EEC3-3010-4908-876E37BF359A939D/0/GuidelinesSaleofFoodsatTemporaryFoodMarkets2011FINAL3.pdf 16 http://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/departments/planning-development/developmentservices/zoning.html 17 http://www.victoria.ca/assets/Departments/Finance/Documents/property-tax-permissive-exemption.pdf 18 http://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/departments/planning-development/communityplanning/heritage/program-description.html 13 Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 24 4. Governance Discussion and Recommendations This section explores the range of governance models for the VDPM and provides recommendations on the structure, roles and responsibilities. 4.1. Introduction How will the Victoria Downtown Public Market (VDPM) be governed? Who makes decisions? Who is responsible and liable? Who owns the market? Who owns the facility? The success of the VDPM is contingent upon the establishment of an effective governance structure that meets the needs of the VDPM. This Governance and Management discussion paper will begin to answer these questions by presenting four governance models with examples from other communities, the governance requirements for VDPM, and recommendations for the most suitable governance structure. 4.2. Core Activities and Responsibilities for Governing Local Food Markets Governance of a public market is comprised of a set of core activities with roles and responsibilities associated for each one. Core activities and responsibilities for governance of local food markets include: Governance aspects of public local food markets Ownership structure Management and operations systems Financing Decision Ownership of the market (public, private, non-profit, social enterprise, hybrid, shareholders) Ownership of the facility (public, private, non-profit, social enterprise, hybrid, shareholders) Ownership of equipment (public, private) Leasing Maintenance (indoor and outdoor) Security and first aid Promotions, communications, and advertising Scheduling events and shared space use Hiring and managing operational staff Vendor/Business Management- oversight on vendor competition, vendor leases Shares Capital campaign Private investment Public investment (multiple levels of government) Investment partnerships Market manager & Board of directors Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 25 making Shareholders and investors/lenders Facility owner or Market owner A Combination 4.3. Governance Objectives of the VDPM To establish a successful governance structure for the VDPM, the objectives for the market must be considered. The table below derives several governance objectives from the mission statement of the VDPM. Mission for the VDPMS 1) It will showcase innovative, quality local food products, especially farmed, fished and value-added goods, and help creative entrepreneurs grow to their potential. Additionally, this will increase food security, and protect local farmland. Governance Objective Ensure a strong presence of locally grown and crafted foods Provide opportunities for local growers and processors to access urban markets Involve business owners in the governance model 2) It will provide a focus of foodrelated education and activity to the downtown community such as education in urban agriculture and culinary classes, food related speakers series, a demonstration kitchen, farmers' market nutrition coupon project for low income families, and public outreach on food security issues. Ensure that the space and programming for community education and exposure to local food is lead by an individual or organization. Involve this organization in the governance model Coordinate education activities so that they maximize the onsite resources for the community and function to compliment other activities 3) It will improve the walkable urban design of the downtown core and reduce overall food miles for local residents, thereby supporting and celebrating sustainable life choices and improving the overall livability of our regional for residents and adding to the cultural experience of visitors. Locate the market in an area that is walkable and adds to the overall fabric of the downtown Ensure that the VDPM is a vibrant part of culture and tourism in Victoria and a liaison is appointed to coordinate with other tourism activities in Victoria. - - 4.4. Key Governance Partners Currently, there are several key partners that will likely work together to govern the VDPM. One is the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society (VDPMS) that currently owns and operates Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 26 the farmers market. The second is the private entity who the VDPMS may partner with to provide market space in exchange for a local food hot spot in a rapidly developing area of downtown Victoria. Private partners may include but are not limited to: - David Chard: [email protected] - Franc D'Ambrosio: [email protected] - Robert Jawl: [email protected] - David Stefanson: [email protected] - Fraser Campbell (re. Hudson): [email protected] - Bob Pearce, Townline Dev. [email protected] - Dan Diebolt: [email protected] To date, the City of Victoria has not been directly involved with the VDPM but has been indirectly supportive though the draft OCP policies and staff participation in the Feb 10th workshop. The City has long range plans to support the creation of a semi-permanent or permanent farmers market. VDPMS may also want to consider other partners that would contribute both financially and operationally to the market. One option is a partnership to support the demonstration kitchen such as Vancity, Coast Capital or United Way. A list of further stakeholders, including vendors, can be found in Appendix B. 4.5. Feedback from the February 10th workshop During the Feb 10th workshop, governance was discussed in small groups. From the business and vendor side, two variations on the hybrid private-non-profit model surfaced as the most suitable for the VDPM. The non-profit could be set-up in two ways: 1) A Non-Profit Society: With a board of directors and a lead staff person (an executive director, project manager etc), this entity would make decisions regarding the society’s by-laws. Additionally it may manage the day-to-day operations of the market either internally or with external contractors. In support of this idea it was thought this would be a low cost, democratic way to involve vendors and business owners in decision making. It was also thought there may be a tax advantage. The lack of experience with this model and lack of cohesion from market management vs. vendors were noted as potential drawbacks. 2) A Cooperative: In support of this model, participants noted that this would allow vendors to potentially own shares in the VDPM which would create a collective responsibility for achieving success and a way for everyone to be heard. It was noted that in-fighting and lack of clear decision making structures has occurred elsewhere as a result of this type of structure and conflict resolution mechanisms would need to be established. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 27 4.6. Rationale for Private Entity Involvement in Local Food Market Governance Increasingly, communities are realizing the benefits of inter-jurisdictional, inter-sectoral, inter-departmental approaches to the sustainability of food and agriculture systems. The private sector, including real estate and development companies, are also realizing the inherent interest that comes with food culture. The advantages for developers to have a public market within their building or on their site of development include: 1. Meeting corporate social responsibility goals by investing in a community good project that also supports local food production and sustainable farming practices. 2. Increasing the value of their land as a public market is an attractive destination. 3. Increasing the sale price or rental value of properties (e.g. condominiums, retail) due to the attractiveness of having public markets on site. 4. Meeting conditions set by local government or gaining favour with the local government by investing in community services. 5. Generating additional revenue from renting the space to a public market. 6. The developer may not have many options left due to the configuration of the space or location of the property, leaving a public market as an only viable option to fill the space. 4.7. Governance Success Factors for the Private-Non Profit Governance Model Based on the benchmarking of other public markets, the following factors, related to the relationship between a developer or landlord, have helped in the success of public markets: 1. A symbiotic business relationship where the success of one is beneficial to the other and both parties understand this. 2. A flexible approach to doing business that embraces change and new opportunities. 3. A long term relationship, with the understanding that the success of the market (and business relationship) could take more than 2 years. 4. The developer has a good understanding of how to run a successful public market. 5. The public market has a good business understanding in the non-profit context. 6. The developer enters the partnership with the understanding of the limitations of a public market. For example public markets may not be as profitable, per square foot, as other retail outlets. However, the public market offers other additional benefits to the developers, as listed above. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 28 4.8. Governance Recommendations The VDPM is fortunate to have partnership opportunities with local developers. By not relying on public money and/or assets, the market aims to form a mutually beneficial agreement with a developer who will provide space for a local food market. Given these local opportunities, what is known from other communities, and feedback at the Feb 10th workshop, the best governance structure for the VDPM is a hybrid model involving the developer and the VDPMS (or future iteration of a non-profit/cooperative). Revisiting the core responsibilities associated with governance presented in the introduction, the recommended roles and responsibilities for the VDPMS (and/or vendor association) and the developer are presented in the table below. Governance aspects of public local food markets Ownership structure The developer builds and owns the physical space of the market, and leases this to VDPMS. The VDPMS or vendor association owns the market Management and operations systems There are two models of managing and operating the market. These are presented below with a brief discussion on the pros and cons for each The VDPMS holds a management contract. The VDPMS is responsible for: - Promotions, communications, and advertising - Scheduling events and shared space use - Hiring and managing operational staff - Vendor/Business Management - Collecting rent - Leasing stall space The Developer is responsible for: - Types of vendors - Leasehold upgrades - Maintenance - Security and first aid Pros: Lower risk for the VDPMS in terms of financial investment. Cons: Gives the developer more control (e.g. type of vendors), is short term with no guarantee of Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 RECOMMENDED: The developer holds a master lease with the VDPMS. The developer is responsible for: - Maintenance The VDPM is responsible for: - Types of vendors - Paying for leasehold improvements over time - Collecting rent - Leasehold upgrades - Leasing stall space - Security and first aid - Promotions, communications, and advertising - Scheduling events and shared space use - Hiring and managing operational staff - Vendor/Business Management Pros: Longer term security for VDPM (recommend 5-year with an option to renew), gives VDPM more control over vendor types, market operations and investments. 29 renewal, cost for lease upgrades would be directly passed onto the VDPMS though cost per square foot. Decision making Cons: More risk and upfront investment for the VDPM. The board of the VDPMS (or other entity) makes decisions regarding the market management and operations. It is likely that all key project partners would be board members and therefore participate in the overall decision making of the market. It is advisable for the board to hire a single market manager who would be empowered to make all necessary day to day decisions and to ensure efficient decision making process. The terms for the board and staff would be developed in future stages of this project. A vendor association, a self organized group comprised of market vendors, with limited powers was discussed by the VDPMS as the best option for ensuring vendor representation in decision making but also avoiding the inefficiencies that are often associated with these groups. The diagram below presents a proposed governance structure. Master Lease Agreement Facility Owner (The Hudson) VDPMS VDPMS Board of Directors 2 members from the Hudson 2 members from the VDPMS 1 member from the vendor association Vendor Association Vendor Vendor Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 Vendor 30 In short, the recommended governance structure for VDPM is a hybrid private- non-profit model, especially with the opportunity of the VDPMS to coordinate with a private developer at The Hudson property. The VDPMS would have a master lease agreement with the Developer and decisions about the market would be made by the board of directors of the VDPM. The Board would be comprised of two representatives from the developer, two representatives from the VDPMS, and one representative from the Vendor association. The developer would own the space, while providing a master lease agreement with the VDPMS to manage and operate the market. The VDPMS would then lease out space to vendors and provide overall management and decision making around the market. This would provide long term security for the market and give the Board of Directors a lot of control and flexibility around the market. Vendor/tenant interests would be represented by a vendor association. 4.9. Lease Policy Recommendations To meet the goals and vision of VDPMS, we recommend that policies around local food be written in to the leases. First, there should be an overarching policy for the market as a whole stating that only locally owned and operated vendors are allowed. Franchises and corporately owned operators should not be allowed in the market. For the individual lease agreements, policies should state that a minimum percentage of food sold has to be grown or produced on Vancouver Island or within 500 kilometers. This will allow the sale of nonlocal items such as bananas, but maintain the integrity and local emphasis of the market. Vendors at the seasonal farmers’ market or any vendor claiming they are a farm or calling themselves a farm should only be allowed to sell produce they grow or produce. This is the case for most farmers’ markets and can be managed through certifying bodies such as www.mypick.ca. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 31 5. Preliminary Budget Plan Based on our review of other public markets and our general knowledge about the economics of public food markets, we have prepared a 5 Year Financial Performance for the Victoria market, as shown in chapter 6. We discuss the key elements of the budget as well as the underlying assumptions below. 5.1. Cost structure of a public market Based on other public markets a list of cost categories the market would expect to cover are listed below. Costs identified with * are rechargeable costs normally charged through Common Area Management (CAM) Costs. These costs are, in most cases, costs that can’t be directly apportioned to individual tenants such as utility costs. Costs will vary depending on the type of building, location, facilities within the building and the setup and format of the market. Projections for these have been made in Chapter 6 based on The Hudson building. Salaries Market manager Administrator Operational* Consultants Accounting/Legal/professional Supplies General supplies Computers Office equipment Telephones etc. Janitorial Supplies* Linen and supplies Cleaning equipment Garbage/recycling* Maintenance, Repairs & Tools* Contracts* Monitored alarm/security Pest control Snow clearing and window cleaning Common Area Electricity Heat Water Parking Miscellaneous (phone, courier, permits, uniforms) Marketing Advertising Website/SEO/Social Media Events Administration Gross building rent Insurance Taxes Stall enhancements Admin fees* Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 32 5.2. Rental structure to tenants One of the most successful markets we looked at was Covent Garden, which is due in part to their fee structure. Their fee structure, which breaks out rent, promotional fee and utilities, is seen as fair by the vendors as it is more transparent and accountable. The market shares in the success of the vendors by taking a share of revenue, which also benefits the vendor when their sales aren’t as good. The vendors also see a breakdown of the variable costs (e.g. utilities) that are paid by the vendors with no additional margin added on by the market. This fee structure is similar to Granville Island, which is viewed as one of the most successful public markets in North America. Permanent Indoor Stall Fees For permanent indoor stalls we recommend a multi-level lease that includes: • Stall fee: This a basic rental charge per square foot. The rent will be based on covering the costs to the run the market which will include rent to the building owner, staff, insurance and accounting. Markets typically charge between $30 and $65 per square foot, which is in-line with other retailers in high traffic Victoria locations, which are typically charged $30 to $40 per square foot on a gross square footage basis. • Annual promotional fee: a budgeted fee that is ring fenced and only used for promotions. For any retail operation this is normally between 3% to 5%. It is expected that vendors will do some of their own marketing so public markets normally charge less than this. • Common Area Management fee: the total operational costs (see costs identified with * in section 5.1 above) of running the market are charged back to the vendors each month. • Percentage of sales rent charges above a certain vendor revenue threshold: The threshold should be set at the level at which the average vendor would be making a fair profit. it is advisable to charge a lower base rental fee and include percent rent charges because it reduces the barrier to attract vendors who are just starting up while allowing the market to share in the success of a vendor who is doing very well at the market. Depending on the setup of the market, extra fees for use of common facilities such as walkin coolers or walk-in freezers would also be charged to the specific vendors that use them. As much as possible, separate meters should be installed in the individual vendor stalls to track and charge the vendors for their direct use of electricity, natural gas (e.g. for gas stoves) and water. The cost of these meters will quickly pay for themselves as research has proved that tenants, who pay for their own utility costs, use 40% less19. 19 http://www.enercare.ca/case-studies Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 33 We recommend that the permanent stalls be set up on 3 year leases, so that the term is long enough to amortize leasehold improvement costs but short enough to replace poor performing vendors. Temporary Stalls For temporary stalls the market will want the flexibility to change the type and number of stalls throughout the year. We therefore recommend a flat daily fee: Indoor: $50/stall Outdoor: $25/stall Indoor stalls are higher because they are indoors, the hours are longer and are available 7 days per week. The market may want to add on premiums for weekend rates and/or discounts for longer term leases. Indoor stalls will also be provided by the market. Outdoor stalls will only be available one day per week during the summer and for 4 hours, which is typical for a farmers’ market format. Vendors are expected to bring their own tables, tents and other equipment. The market can offer to rent these if it has the room to store them. An outdoor farmers’ market is also seen as a draw for customers to the public market and therefore seen as a benefit as a whole, hence why stall fees are lower. In some cases such as Granville Island vendors are not charged. For temporary stalls, we recommend discounts for longer term commitments (e.g. 10% off for 3 months or 15% off per 6 months.) 5.3. Estimated vendor revenues and mix of vendors Core shoppers Through our benchmark research on public markets across North America we have identified that the success of a 7 day/week year round permanent public market is dependent on local residents. This was also identified in a review on markets for City of Victoria20. Local residents shop on a regular basis through the week and year and most importantly can be expected to spend a large portion of their food budget at a public market. Day tourists and out of town tourists can’t be relied on to contribute significantly to the total revenues of the vendors. Granville Island, an established public market in Vancouver, has identified a 3 mile radius as the catchment zone for their core shoppers (population of ~300,000) and estimate that 80% of total revenues come from local residents. The 13 neighbourhoods of Victoria are within a 3 mile radius of downtown Victoria (and the proposed site for VDPM). We can therefore assume the core shoppers for VDPM will be 20 Coriolis Consulting Corporation “Review of Bastion Square Public Market and Government Street Market – 2009” Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 34 residents of the City of Victoria. However, as the Granville Island managers are finding, this can vary depending on competition especially from supermarkets. The 2006 census determined the population of City of Victoria to be 78,05721. A more resent sub-division census by Statistics Canada estimates it at 80,017 in 2011. The city is expected to grow by an additional 10,000 by 2030 with most of the increase coming from younger residents22that will reside in new developments downtown. While we haven’t included them in our calculations, it is relevant to note that the adjacent townships of Esquimalt and Oak Bay also largely fall within the 3 mile zone so their residents may also add to the core customer base for the market (both communities have a population of about 16,000 people. Estimated vendor revenues To help us project the revenues of vendors we estimated the total revenues of all vendors. To do this we took the 2011 population of Victoria (80,017) and multiplied it by the per capita amount spent on food ($3,021) and then applied a percent penetration (e.g. 2% of the resulting number) to represent the percentage of total food expenditures that a public market in downtown Victoria could capture. This calculation is based on a formula presented in the review on markets for City of Victoria23. By comparison, Granville Island captures 4.2% of expenditures in the 3 mile zone, which we would expect from a well established public market with many additional attractions nearby (e.g. Children’s Market, Granville Island artist studios, False Creek Park, seawall, etc). As yet another benchmark comparison, the proposed Public Market for the City of Boston estimated that it should be able to capture 2.8% of retail food expenditures in its target catchment area24. It is relevant to note that considerable growth is expected in the downtown core of Victoria. This will help increase vendor revenues because the population that is within walking distance of a market can be expected to contribute up to 30% of the revenues of a public market. The population of the downtown core in 2008 was 6,050 and is growing at a rate of 3.4% per year.25 Based on this, the current population of the downtown core is about 6,900. If this core market area did buy 30% of its groceries at the Victoria Public Market that would yield annual vendor revenues of $6.3 million. In addition, the market can be expected to capture significant additional revenues from tourists and downtown employees. About 33,000 employees work in the downtown core. As noted in the same City of Victoria report, $500 per square foot annually is generally considered the minimum level of revenues for vendors to be viable at a permanent, indoor 21 http://www.victoria.ca/assets/Community/Documents/census-population.pdf 22http://www.victoria.ca/assets/Departments/Planning~Development/Community~Planning/Documents/ Downtown~Core~Area~Plan/downtown-core-area-plan.pdf 23 Coriolis Consulting Corporation “Review of Bastion Square Public Market and Government Street Market – 2009” 24 Project for Public Spaces. May 2011. An Implementation Plan for a Public Market in Boston. 25 City of Victoria. September 2011. City of Victoria Downtown Core Area Plan Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 35 public market, assuming that the operating costs of the Victoria Public Market are similar to other markets. For a comparison Granville Island has sales of $1,800 per square foot in 21,000 sq. ft. of retail space (42,000 sq. ft. gross). It is also relevant to note that it will likely take a full three year ramp up period before the market can expect to achieve profitable revenues. A number of conditions will impact these estimates: • Population density within a 10 minute walking distance of the market • Competition • Range of products offered at VDPM • Price competitiveness of VDPM vendors • Downtown traffic • Parking around VDPM • Public transit access to VDPM • Other services/amenities in or around VDPM (e.g. library, children’s play area, tourist attractions) • Overall appeal of VDPM (e.g. events, layout, visual esthetics, customer service) Table 5.2 VDPM metrics versus Granville Island Public Market Public Market Performance Total indoor square footage of market Rentable indoor square footage Rentable space a % of total space Number of vendors Population within 3 miles Per capital expenditure on food % of food expenditure at the market Total expenditure of food at the market Total expenditure per sq. ft. Average annual vendor revenues VDPM $ Granville Island 18,000 42,000 11,000 21,000 61% 50% 25 50 80,017 300,000 3,021 $ 3,021 4.2% $ 37,800,000 $ 1,800 $ 756,000 It is relevant to note that the average purchase per customer per visit to the market is expected to be about $20. A one day, summer farmer’s market with about 25 vendors will also add to the vendor mix, and generate additional vendor revenues. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 36 5.4. Competitive Analysis The level of competition in the immediate vicinity is one of the largest factors that will impact on the Victoria Public Market revenues. The following grocery stores are located within a 10 – 15 minute walking distance from the Hudson: • • • • • • • • • Market on Yates– 903 Yates St. (strong competition – many local products) Fisgard Market – 550 Fisgard St. (very small – in China town) Wellburn’s Market – 1058 Pandora St. Seed of Life Natural Foods – 1316 Government St.( nearby but very small) Grocery Plus –Corner of View and Douglas (very niche with Chinese takeout) Thrifties – 198 Menzies St. (not in downtown core but within 15 minutes walk) Save-On Foods – 172 Wilson (not in downtown core but just across bridge) Fairway Market – 2635 Quadra (farther away but good product overlap) Ingredients Heath Food and Apple Café – 2031 Store St.(bulk and natural foods, including produce) While there are some large supermarkets fairly nearby (Save-On Foods, Thrifties, Fairway Market), only the Market on Yates is right in the heart of the downtown core. This is confirmed in a 2009 report on the Bastion Square Market in Victoria, which confirmed that “there is very little existing food retailing in downtown Victoria”.26Given that a lot of new residential development is planned for the downtown core (in addition to The Hudson), we believe that there is room for another food retail option, especially one like the Victoria Public Market that will be viewed differently from a regular grocery store and that will draw from a larger catchment area. Walkscore.com map showing nearby grocery stores and shops around The Hudson 26 Coriolis Consulting Corp. August 2009. Review of Bastion Square Public Market and Government Street Market. Page 19. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 37 6. Financial and Implementation Plan 6.1. Five year financial projections Based on the preliminary budget model presented in the previous chapter, we prepared revenue and expense calculations for the first five years of operation. These are presented below: Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 38 It is important to note that this model relies on some important assumptions (shown at the top of the spreadsheet), which include the following: • The total market size is 18,000 square feet, of which 11,000 (61%) is permanent rental space. There is also space for up to 15 day vendor tables in the common area space. • The base vendor stall fees have been set at $34/square foot. This is in line with the $30 to $40/square foot rents that are charged in the downtown core of Victoria. • We have used a 2% inflation rate and applied it to stall fees and most fixed costs. • The population growth rate has been set a 0.75% per year to match City of Victoria Downtown Area Plan projections of an additional 10,000 people by 203027. • Food prices are shown to increase at 3% per year, which is an extrapolation from the last 3 years. • We have assumed that the market penetration rate of the market will be 1.5% of Victoria food purchases, then rising to 2.5% over three years after the market has become established. Some markets have achieved penetration rates of 3% or more, but we have opted to be conservative. • We have applied a vacancy rate of 20% in the first year, which then declines to 5% after 3 years. We note that by changing one or more of these assumptions, the net income may change significantly. Revenue Calculations The revenues for the market come from seven sources, as follows: • 16 indoor main stall fees ($34/rentable square foot). • 15 indoor day tables in the common area ($50/table/day). • 25 outdoor 1 day per week summer market stalls ($25/stall/day). • Common Area Management fees (about $3/square foot), which are passed on to the landlord. • Market charges (2% of vendor revenues), which are fully spent on marketing activities • Shared cooler/freezer rental fees ($55/square foot), charged on a user-pay basis 27http://www.victoria.ca/assets/Departments/Planning~Development/Community~Planning/Documents/ Downtown~Core~Area~Plan/downtown-core-area-plan.pdf Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 39 • Percent rent charges (5% of all vendor revenues over $500/square foot). Expense Calculations The primary expenses that are not directly recoverable by the tenants, include the following: • Labour (manager, coordinator, admin) – 24% of revenues • Fixed expenses (insurance, accounting, alarm system, phone, permits) – 5% • Variable expenses (supplies, courier, and miscellaneous) – 3% • Operating costs for the outdoor market (matched to revenues) – 3% Net income results The projections show that based on the above assumptions, revenues, and expenses, the market can be expected to almost achieve breakeven in its first year of operations. The market then makes a small profit in year two, primarily due to a decrease in the vacancy rate. In years three, four and five, profitability jumps significantly to more than 14% due to a further decrease in the vacancy rate but, more importantly, due to the a new revenue stream from percent rent charges. However, it needs to be noted in year 6 property tax of around $5 per square foot will kick in, which will significantly increase the amount the vendors pay. At the bottom of the spreadsheet we show what the operating income will be if the Market did not charge percent rents. As can be seen, this one change brings the operating income down to a much more moderate level of about 7.5%. This would suggest that the market may not need to charge percent rents. However, given that there are always extra, unforeseen costs in any start up, we feel that it is prudent to include percent charges in the vendor lease agreements and then reduce or eliminate them if they are not needed. By striving to achieve good operating surpluses during the first five years, the Market can create a solid reserve fund, so that it can continue normal operations even when faced with sudden large expenses or high vacancy rates. The reserve fund should ideally contain an amount equal to or greater than three months of full operating expenses. This works out to somewhere between $115,000 and $130,000, which can be achieved within five years without percent rents and within three years with percent rents. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 40 6.2. Vendor rental affordability analysis While the five year projections appear to work for the Market, it is important to determine if they also work for the vendors in terms of affordability. The following table shows the various stall fees matched against the projected vendor revenues. A general rule of thumb for public markets is that a vendor can afford to pay up to 6.5% of sales on rent28. As can be seen below, this guideline is met in years three, four, and five, for both if you exclude or include the percent rent in the rental calculation. 6.3. Some cautionary notes about the projections We have a number of cautionary notes about the budget and some suggestions on how best to manage these for the financial benefit of the market. These are briefly outlined below: 28 • Limited market demand – For an 18,000 square foot market to be successful, it needs to be generating revenues of over $5,000,000 per year so that the economics are compelling enough to attract and keep good vendors. The fact that Victoria attracts a greater than average number of tourists in the summer, could help to boost revenues. Similarly, revenues could be boosted if the market becomes a draw for the 320,000 residents in the municipalities just outside of Victoria. However, these are largely unknowns and should not be counted upon. • Limited immediate vicinity customers - if The Hudson is chosen as the venue for the market, it has the added challenge that a significant percentage of the units are not yet occupied (or even completed). These very local customers represent an important segment of the customer base for the market. • Long ramp up period – It will take at least 3 years before the market is operating at full revenues, yet most of the expenses are relatively fixed, regardless of the revenues. Project for Public Spaces. May 2011. An Implementation Plan for a Public Market in Boston Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 41 • Inaccurate expense estimates – Because we were not able to obtain any detailed financial statements from other markets, we have had to make rough estimates for some of the costs. If those costs are under-estimated, the expenses could then exceed the revenues. To overcome these financial challenges we recommend that the VDPMS consider one or more of the following strategies to improve the financial viability of the market, especially in its initial years: • Negotiate a reduced rent from the property developer until its residential units are fully occupied. • Negotiate an escalating rent from the developer over the first five years to compensate for the initial period of low vendor revenues. • Seek some grant funding to help build up a reserve fund to; o Cover the initial leasehold improvement costs and staff pre-opening implementation costs that are not covered by the developer. For example VDPMS could partner with other institutions to cover the costs of the demonstration kitchen such as Vancity, City of Victoria, Coast Capital and United Way o Cover any projected losses during the ramp up period and/or help launch an aggressive marketing campaign. 6.4. Initial capital and leasehold improvement costs The building owners at The Hudson building estimate that it will cost about $500,000 to install all the finishings for both the common area and the vendor stalls. There will be a general style and continuity for the whole space to which all tenants must adhere. In addition, individual vendors will have specific needs for built in cooking equipment, counters, shelves, storage space, washing sinks, and so on. The building owner will charge each vendor for their pro-rata share of common area costs as well as the specific leasehold improvements requested by the vendor. The total amount will be amortized over a 5 or 10 year period and charged to the vendor as a surcharge per rentable square foot. On a five year amortization, the surcharge per square foot would be $9, whereas on a 10 year amortization, it would decrease to $4.50/square foot. There are few capital costs that we believe are important to include in the market. These include: • A central POS system – a central POS system helps the vendors by giving them a sophisticated point of sale system that allows them to track their sales for management purposes. It also helps the Market by allowing it to easily track vendor sales and charge percent rents. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 42 • In-unit metering of water and natural gas equipment – it costs about $300 per unit to install meters for each energy type but these costs are fully recovered over time through reduced consumption. • A comprehensive recycling and composting system – in keeping with the green ethic of a public market, it is important to ensure that the market has a comprehensive waste avoidance system. • Demonstration kitchen with large display counter – This kitchen will have many uses, including cooking demonstrations, food-related presentations, after hours microcooking activities, and so on. • Children’s play area – This could be as little as a 10 x 10 area with some small tables and indestructible and non-removable play structures. • A performance stage – Ideally, this would be adjacent to the kitchen area and not too far from the children’s play area. In addition, each permanent vendor stall will need a minimum of 100 amp service as well as floor drains. 6.5. Pre-opening costs and timeline We estimate that it will take roughly one year to complete all the pre-launch logistics. The costs that will likely be incurred by the market during this period will likely be about $250,000. It will be important for the market to try to raise these funds from supportive organizations so that it can launch the market from a debt-free position. A breakdown of these costs are provided below. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 43 6.6. Key implementation tasks There will undoubtedly be a huge range of tasks that the market society and staff will have to implement. Below we have outlined a few of the key activities required: 6.7. Post launch duties After the launch, the market manager and staff will be responsible for a number of welldefined tasks. These tasks have been grouped and presented below. As part of this business plan we have provided the Operations Manual and Vendor Guidelines for Spokane Public Market that highlight in detail the responsibilities, procedures and policies for vendors and market staff. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 44 7. Future Research Needs While this document outlines the key metrics, governance structures, financial projections, operating guidelines, and so on, there are a number of areas that will require further research before the VDPMS should give the final green light on this project. These areas include the following: • More detailed analysis on the estimated consumer demand for the Market – while we have done some initial estimates for demand that seem to suggest that the market demand is large enough to support the market, this is such a critical element that we recommend further analysis and potentially a survey of local residents to better substantiate the demand for the market including the views on the types of vendors they would like to see in the market. This would include getting better estimates on the percentage of employees that would buy from the market and their expected average order size as well as the percentage of tourists that would likely be attracted to the market and their average order size. It would also be useful to identify the number and location of new residential units that are planned for the downtown core. • More detailed assessment of the competition – While we generally believe that the downtown area is underserved in terms of grocery retail operations, it would be useful to obtain data on the catchment areas for the supermarket chains just outside the downtown core such as Thrifties, Save On Foods and Fairway markets. It would also be useful to identify if there are any planned grocery stores for the downtown area. • Best practices for managing a public food market – It would be very useful to identify a set of detailed best practices for the Victoria Public Market. Based on our research, there is a very large range in the financial success of some markets versus others and a best practices guide would help to ensure that the Victoria Public Market is at the top of the range. We highly recommend visiting a successful public market and shadowing a market manager for a day or two. • A best practices guide for vendors – Because so much of the success of the market has to do with how successful the vendors are, it would be advantageous to prepare a guide that helps the vendors maximize their success and therefore the success of the market. Again, it would be highly recommendable to visit a public market and speak to or work with a vendor. • A potential vendor survey – Having established the basic parameters for the market, it will be important to canvass potential vendors and get their reactions to it and also to identify their specific requirements in terms of space, layout, equipment, electricity Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 45 needs, venting requirements, washing and drainage requirements, and so on. This latter information will help greatly in determining leasehold improvement costs and layout configurations. • Preparation of concept drawings for the market – A detailed set of concept drawings, illustrating the look and feel of the market will help greatly to build enthusiasm and support for the market. • A detailed implementation plan for the pre-opening period – While we have included some very high level tasks that are needed during the pre-opening period, it will be helpful to prepare a more detailed implementation plan that better describes the sequence of tasks, at what stage new staff should be hired, when expenditures will be made, when permits need to be submitted, and so on. • A more detailed set of financial projections–We have made a number of assumptions in our financial projections which need to be better ground truthed by getting specific price quotes from vendors, etc. and perhaps contacting other markets and asking them about their costs in certain areas (e.g. cleaning costs per square foot). It is very important that the VDPMS has the most accurate financial information possible on both the revenues and costs for the market. Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 46 Appendices Appendix A Regulations relevant to Victoria Downtown Public Market Below are some key regulations and guidelines that relate to operating a public market in Victoria. No specific regulations or guidelines exist specifically for public markets, just ones that relate to running a food retail business. Specific regulations and guidelines, however, do exist for operating temporary food markets such as a farmers’ market. These are included below. City Bylaws and Licenses • Outdoor Market Bylaw29 is a Municipal bylaw that sets out the regulations, guidelines and permits to run an outdoor market(e.g. setting up of tents, cleanliness, business license, and opening times). • A business license30 is needed for the public market and its vendors to operate in Victoria, which is issued by the city. Health Regulations • An indoor public market falls under the Public Health Act Food Premises Regulation31. These regulations include: o Approvals and permits o Training o Food sources and protection o Equipment, utensils and cleaning o Employees o Food management o Miscellaneous – animals, pests and storage of chemicals • Outdoor markets have provincial guidelines for the running of temporary food markets32. These guidelines include: o Preparations of lower risk food at home o Conditions for sale of lower risk food o Market managers 29 http://www.victoria.ca/assets/City~Hall/Bylaws/bylaw-93-121.pdf http://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/business/permits-licences/business-licences.html 31 http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/11_210_99 32 http://www.bccdc.ca/NR/rdonlyres/8084EEC3-3010-4908-876E37BF359A939D/0/GuidelinesSaleofFoodsatTemporaryFoodMarkets2011FINAL3.pdf 30 Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 47 o Chef demonstrations and other similar events • There are no specific health regulations for an on-site kitchen if it is used for demonstrations or cooking classes. These kitchens are not inspected, but will still require a sink with running water and relevant prep and storage areas. If the kitchen is to be used for processing and/or cooking food to be consumed by the public then the kitchen would need to adhere to food regulations. • It is advisable for the public market to develop strong relationships with the health inspector assigned to the facility. This will help with the ongoing management of the market such as managing difficult vendors and when trying to initiate new services or products. Key contact details are: Capital Health Region Service Delivery Area Maxine Marchenski [email protected] Phone: 250-519-3401 ext. 33648 Fax: 250-519-3402 Building & Planning Regulations • The development of any building and its use needs to follow a process with the City of Victoria33, inparticular with the Development Services staff and Community Association Land Use Committees and Council. The principle document that regulates the use of a building is the Zoning Regulation Bylaw document34. The relevant zoning for a public market in a mixed commercial building is within General Commercial Zones such as Limited Commercial District zoning35. • As with any renovations or construction, permits are needed for particular kinds of work such as plumbing, wiring changes, handicapped access, legal change of use of a building and signage. Information on permits and inspections can be found at the relevant section of the City of Victoria website36. • The public market will have to work with their landlords or developers to make sure they follow and meet City of Victoria regulations, such as: o Parking regulations for retail spaces are 1 space for 37.5m2 of gross floor space37 33 http://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/departments/planning-development/development-services.html http://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/departments/planning-development/developmentservices/zoning.html 35 http://www.victoria.ca/assets/Departments/Planning~Development/Zoning/Bylaws/zoning-bylaw-04001.pdf 36 http://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/departments/planning-development/permits-inspections.html 37 http://www.victoria.ca/assets/Departments/Planning~Development/Zoning/Documents/zoningregulations-schedule-c.pdf 34 Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 48 o Noise levels from the market (especially the outdoor market) do not exceed levels set for the zone the market is located in38. o Waste disposal regulations and requirements for minimum levels of recycling and composting facilities. o Odor bylaws ensuring that the wastes do not create excessive smells in a residential area. Government Incentives • There is a property tax exemption for non-profit organizations39. However, this is under review and exemptions are being restricted ongoing. • There are further property tax exemptions for any seismic upgrades40 done on heritage buildings. In the case of The Hudson, the landlord is passing these savings along to the tenants for the first 5 years of the lease term, approximately $5.50 to $7.00 psf/annum. Appendix B Vendors 2gf by Lesley AJs Organics Cafe Alberts Creations B-Red Bakery Choux Choux Charcuterie Cold Comfort Ice Cream Cottlestone Apiary Cowichan Bay Pasta Dads Westcoast Awesome sauce El Guapo Grill Fat Chili Farm Fat Fish Seafood Fol Epi Bakery Foo Restaurant Food Roots Co-op Fruition Paletas Fry's Red Wheat Bread Haliburton Farm Hilary`s Cheese Il Forno de Claudio bakery Jay Milliken Mushrooms Local Motive Omnivore Acres Organic Fair Ottavio's Deli Preservation Foods Rene Sans Salsa Root Cellar Saanich Organics Seabluff Farm SunTrio Farms Sweet Flour Terra Nossa Farm (meat) The Village Butcher The Whole Beast Tortilla Monterey Untamed Feast Vancouver Island Salt Company Wild Jam Man 38 http://www.victoria.ca/assets/City~Hall/Bylaws/bylaw-03-012.pdf http://www.victoria.ca/assets/Departments/Finance/Documents/property-tax-permissive-exemption.pdf 40 http://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/departments/planning-development/communityplanning/heritage/program-description.html 39 Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 49 Workshop attendees Philippe Lucas Maryanne Carmack Stefan Morales Scott Kelly Jason Guille Krista Resato Eveyln Pereira Corry Matechuck Lee Fuge Paula Hesje Lesley Davies Miles Dean Rebneris [email protected] Claudio Costi [email protected] Sol Kinnis [email protected] Andrew Shepherd [email protected] Ian King [email protected] Liz & Jon Newton [email protected] Claudia Garza [email protected] Ryan Acheson Matt Horn [email protected] Michael O’Brien [email protected] Dennis O’Brien Dean Rebneris [email protected] Kimberley Veness [email protected] George Laundry Conrad Pilon Tony Threlfall [email protected] Karin Lengger [email protected] Alesha Davies [email protected] Matt Tooley [email protected] Wendy Bowkett [email protected] Rebecca Helps Jane Sterk [email protected] Vickey Brown [email protected] Jim Gowans [email protected] Penelope Hagan-Braun [email protected] Pepi Krajc [email protected] Melaine Banas Kim Harrap Janet MacLean [email protected] Mike Sargent [email protected] Ursula [email protected] Troy Kathy McAree [email protected] Terry Worland [email protected] Brad Williams [email protected] Corry Pelan [email protected] Barry Denluck [email protected] Gay Paige [email protected] Krista Rossato [email protected] Alan Clapp Geraldine Glattstin [email protected] Trevor Walker [email protected] Chrystal Bryson [email protected] Ilya Amrhein VanCity + 3 Lorraine Hayhoe [email protected] Matt Loewen [email protected] Ed Johnson, Chair FLT [email protected] Jenni Michell [email protected] Shelly Xia [email protected] Tom Hobby - SCR Management Robin Tunnicliffe [email protected] JP Lafluer [email protected] David Steele [email protected] Elizabeth May [email protected] Kristina Bouris Kelly Daniels [email protected] Michael Hill [email protected] Marni Offman Victoria Downtown Public Market: Business Plan March 2012 50