26/08/2026
Unfortunately, we have made the difficult decision that the Small Biz Queens Christmas Pop-Up will not be going ahead this year unless we are able to find an alternative solution to the staffing requirements.
The main issue we have faced this year is that we simply haven't had enough vendors who are able to commit to working shifts throughout the pop-up. Hiring casual staff to cover these shifts is also not financially viable. We have always tried to keep staffing costs as affordable as possible for our vendors, with the amount we charge for vendor shifts being approximately 50% of what it actually costs us to employ a casual staff member per hour. Covering the remaining hours with paid staff would therefore create a significant additional cost that the pop-up simply can't absorb.
I have already signed the contract for this year's space, so I am absolutely open to hearing any ideas or possible solutions that could allow us to still go ahead. However, I don't believe shortening the pop-up further would solve the issue. We had already reduced this year's event from our usual six weeks to four weeks in an attempt to make it more manageable.
Last Christmas we were incredibly fortunate to have enough support that we often had double staff coverage. This year, the level of shift availability would leave me personally covering a significant portion of the centre's trading hours, including 9am-5pm days and 9am-9pm late-night trading. Unfortunately, running those hours largely by myself isn't realistic alongside having children, studying and running my own businesses.
I'm genuinely disappointed because I know how much work goes into preparing for Christmas and how valuable the pop-up has been for many of our small businesses over the years. If anyone has an idea that could make this year's event workable, please reach out to me as soon as possible. I am more than happy to consider any realistic options before we make the cancellation completely final.
If we are unable to find a workable solution, we will also begin selling off parts of our pop-up setup, including racking, Square equipment and other fixtures/equipment. This was already very likely to be our final pop-up, or at the very least we were planning to scale back to Christmas-only events, as my commitments with study and running two businesses have continued to grow.
If you may be interested in purchasing any of the setup or equipment, please feel free to let me know and I can keep you updated on what becomes available.
Thank you to everyone who has supported, participated in and helped run our pop-ups over the years. ❤️
Send a message to learn more
