THE conversation about Maylands tends to focus on weekend brunches, bars and restaurants.
What gets less attention is what the suburb is doing during the week, between nine and five, when a different kind of local economy is running.
People walk by Eighth Avenue Social without realising it’s one of the strip’s busiest spaces.
Run by Oliver Bradshaw, recently named Community Manager of the Year by Flexible Workspaces Australia, it hosts more than 20 businesses.
Each year it generates well over $100,000 in local spending, through lunch, errands and after-work drinks from people who are already here and choose to stay.
Co-working members aren’t commuting through Maylands on their way to somewhere else, they’ve chosen Maylands as their place to do business.
• Happy chickens at Roxy Lane community garden
They fill seats at 10am on a Tuesday in a way weekend trade alone never can.
There’s a growing movement away from city working, people want to work closer to home.
“We offer a unique community where interest is taken in what everyone is working on. Members are introduced to each other and relationships are built through collaboration or friendship,” said Oliver, Eighth Avenue Social.
The same idea is playing out across Maylands in smaller ways.
Shared shopfronts where two businesses split a tenancy, are making spaces viable that might otherwise sit empty.
On Eighth Ave, two beauty services share a space, bringing different clients through the door.
• Oliver, Eighth Avenue Social
In another, Little Play and Sunny School operate side by side, creating a destination for families.
“Some families travel from Ellenbrook or Fremantle. They have lunch after our session and wave hello to the chickens in the community garden,” said Jem from Sunny School.
These visits flow into the businesses around them. A co-working member buying lunch on Whatley Crescent. A parent stopping for coffee after a session.
Regular
Small, regular decisions that add up across the week.
It’s one of the less visible reasons Maylands functions as well as it does.
“In the past five years that we’ve been operating, there’s been quite a bit of turnover. There are about six shopfronts in the town centre sitting vacant right now,” said Oliver.
In response, more operators are rethinking how space is used. Sharing allows businesses to reduce costs, increase foot traffic and create more activity than they could alone.
That kind of collaboration is part of what defines Maylands and is something the Maylands Business Association is actively encouraging, by helping businesses connect, share space and support each other through a tougher trading environment.
by SIMMONE SACHE