2 business: Retail survey case study: King and Godfree
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good neighbour policy 3
Local heroes Melbourne Hospitality and retail in the world’s most locked-down city suffered dreadfully during the pandemic. Melbourne’s shopping thoroughfares lost foot traffic and thousands of businesses closed down. With residents mandated to stay inside or within a few kilometres of their homes, “destination” venues began to cater more specifically to locals, cultivating a true spirit of community born of necessity. At a time when outdoor exercise provided the only reprieve and takeaway (no matter how gourmet) became essential, restaurants and retailers offering click-and-collect services performed well. This is where the independent nature of Melbourne’s hospitality and retail scenes shone through. Premium restaurants sold diy kits of their most cherished dishes and many brands decided to avoid Uber Eats, asking existing employees to deliver products directly to the doors of customers. — cph 1. Lucas Sbardella (on left) with Jamie Valmorbida 2. Wine cellar 3. Eating in 4. Pizza and cocktails at Johnny’s Green Room
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5. Top of the world 6. Distinctive corner of the heritage building 7. Artisan chocolate 8. Italian deli 9. Skincare shop Grown Alchemist 4
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Why it works Melbourne’s hospitality venues became retailers during the pandemic, providing essentials in the form of takeaways and focusing on people in their neighbourhood, rather than depending on visitors travelling in from distant lands. As these restaurants reopen, retailers should look to their example. 6
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photography: Gareth Sobey
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In 2018 cousins Jamie Valmorbida and Luca Sbardella completed the transformation of the King and Godfree building in Melbourne’s Little Italy into a busy retail and dining precinct. The heritage building belonged to their Italian-born grandfather, Carlo Valmorbida, who ran it in the 1950s as a humble grocery shop that served the immigrant population and helped to introduce delicacies such as parmesan cheese to the city’s palate. Today the building houses a rooftop bar, wine shop and cellar, gelateria and café-deli hybrid. Sitting on the corner of two busy roads, it is the centrepiece of King and Godfree precinct, which is accessed through a web of tucked-away paths. “When it comes to hospitality, Melburnians love an adventure,” says Sbardella of the design concept. “They don’t want it to be too easy to find.” When the pandemic began and dining inside was no longer permitted, the cousins reverted to Nonno Carlo’s model, trading on the ground floor as a light-filled, spruced-up grocer, stacked with Italian supplies. Now a permanent fixture, the offering includes fresh pasta, tinned tomatoes, olive oil, coffee beans, fresh sourdough and produce from Victorian farmers. “In the longterm we were always very focused on reviving our deli,” says Sbardella. “It was a fundamental part of our history and it’s important for the community to have somewhere to shop other than the major supermarkets.” Though Valmorbida and Sbardella own and operate almost all of the hospitality venues, their idea was for each to have its own Italianaccented identity to attract a different demographic of patrons and widen their appeal. While the vibrant red graphics and DJ sets at rooftop bar Johnny’s Green Room pull in students from nearby Melbourne University, the downstairs coffee bar with its classic awnings takes its cues from Milan and attracts a distinctly older crowd of customers, many of whom have been coming to King and Godfree for the past 70 years. Renting out spaces in the adjoining Faraday House building are a design practice, music promoters and Australian skincare retailer Grown Alchemist. With a view to sustainability, King and Godfree also cultivates a large vegetable garden to service the kitchen and reduce waste. “Today the building has something for everyone, from a morning espresso and pastry in the deli to an evening of cocktails and snacks on the rooftop,” says Valmorbida. “Every venue complements rather than competes with each other and offers the community something new and unique.”
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