Rosebank market finds new home in Norwood
ROSEBANK - The embattled Rosebank Rooftop Market has finally found a new home after being closed for several months.
The market, popular with locals and tourists, will begin trading from the Norwood Mall rooftop from 1 September.
Brad Fisher of market managers B&B Markets said, “The mall sees the market as a tremendous drawcard. It is refreshing to work with mall portfolio manager Leila Daya, who has great marketing ideas and positive energy, which bodes well for the future.”
Daya said she looked forward to the market’s move to Norwood and said Fisher told her the response from the market’s traders had been “overwhelmingly positive”.
When asked if the move would bring changes to the market, Daya replied, “I’ll keep mum on that. Wait for the surprises on 1 September.”
The market operated in the Rosebank location for almost 20 years, during which time it attracted millions of visitors and provided a livelihood for many traders.
“The lease gave the landlords the right to take away portions of the premises for expansion, but not to take over the whole premises,” said Fisher.
He said Hyprop tried to force the market to move to another location, and that negotiations between the two parties had been on whether suitable premises could be found (Rosebank market tensions continue, Gazette week ending 26 July).
“Hyprop offered no detail of the new premises, which made it impossible for us to reach agreement with them. They were not interested in the dilemma of B&B Markets or the traders, and simply pressed ahead with its redevelopment, evicting us by blocking access,” he said.
The market managers took their eviction to arbitration, which Hyprop won.
“The matter was taken on appeal, but Hyprop pressed ahead with building so the premises would not be usable for the market, even if we won. They had the lack of shame to argue that we should lose the appeal because they had destroyed the premises while the appeal was pending,” said Fisher.
The appeal tribunal’s decision was that the landlords had been wrong to cancel the lease and evict B&B Markets.
“The landlords manipulated the legal system to achieve their goal – move the market to make way for new retailers at any cost. They didn’t care about us, and they cared even less about the traders… We had no choice but to accept their illegal cancellation of our lease,” said Fisher.
Details: 011-442-4488; www.craft.co.za
