• Were you one of the budding Torvill and Deans captured by the Herald at the Winter Garden? Check our Facebook page and tag yourself. Photo by Steve Grant

LOCAL traders at the Winter Garden in Fremantle are hoping things pick up after a slow and rainy start.

One says so far they’re not even earning enough to cover the cost of renting their small stall on the Esplanade reserve.

“We only made $180 yesterday, and $700 on Saturday, which is our strong day,” Phoenix Chan from Exquise Patisserie said.

“The weather has been shit,” says Marta Balzarro from Parlapa Italian Food.

She says potential costumers don’t feel like grabbing an espresso after getting a soaking falling on the sloppy ice.

“They just want to go home and dry,” she said.

Neil Menzis from San Churro chocolatiers says locals should have been put under one roof. Fremantle BID boss Jenny Marslen agrees and says they’l alsol look at better pathways to draw in customers.

The Bureau of Meteorology is promising perfect ice-skating conditions this week, with mostly clear the skies and the mercury hovering in the teens—not warm enough to melt the ice.

by MARTA PASCUAL JUANOLA

• Were you one of the budding Torvill and Deans captured by the Herald at the Winter Garden? Check our Facebook page and tag yourself. Photo by Steve Grant