News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sydney, Australia 31 January 2011

Small business owners at St Ives Shopping Village contribute their earnings to help fellow Aussies in a time of need

On Friday 21^st January 2011 St Ives Shopping Village and sixteen retailers collectively raised $4,000 to be donated directly to help with the rebuilding process following the devastating floods in Queensland and Victoria, primarily through the Queensland Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal.

The initiative was brought together by St Ives Shopping Village Marketing Manager, Sue McKindlay with just a few days available to organise posters, advertise and create general awareness with the St Ives Shopping Village customers.

“The St Ives Community is always supportive of great causes and in some instances the centre itself has physically provided shelter for people in need during some of Sydney’s worst storms,” says Sue. “This concept was inspired by one of our retailers, Blue Illusion, who held a charity fashion show the previous week and donated a percentage of their sales to the Queensland Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal.”

The retailers donated between 5% and 20% of their sales between 10am and 3pm on Friday, with some retailers donating money from sales on Saturday as well, and Peter’s Meats planning to donate 30% of their Australia Day sales. The list of retailers who participated included:

AnnaKat, Avenue Joffre, Bakers Delight, Eunice Jackson, John Brennan Hair, La Petite Lorraine Patisserie, Leisures Shoe Boutique, Oliver's Bakery, McFadden's Centre Pharmacy, Nina Ynez, Peters Meats, Rodney Clark, Springfields Designer Labels, Silva Guanta, The Athlete's Foot, Wyld Ivy

“Most of the retailers who participated in this initiative were independent retailers or franchisees, small business owners, and not large conglomerates,” says Sue, “which is indicative of how our community operates. A $400 or $500 donation from the sales from a day’s trading is a significant amount for some of our smaller retailers.”

Many of the people affected in the recent flood disasters are small business owners who have lost all of their stock, equipment or premises. The retailers at St Ives Shopping Village empathise with the significance of how this will affect not just those immediately disadvantaged by the floods.

“At one of the quietest periods of the year, when many of the families in St Ives are away on holidays we’re very pleased with the efforts of our retailers,” says Sue. “And, we’d like to thank those who participated on Friday, our local community for getting behind the initiative and the larger retailers who donated significant amounts independently of our official effort.”

About St Ives Shopping Village

St Ives Shopping Village is a privately owned and managed shopping centre located on Sydney’s upper north shore. Opening its doors on 17^th November 1960, the centre celebrated 50 years of trading in 2010. The centre has always espoused the values of family and community and always tries to provide community services as well as offering the local community a balanced centre that caters to all of their shopping needs in one place.

Media contact

For more information and interviews contact:

Karen Morris

Inscriptions Media

0408 559 400