Ballarat Woolshed new home of Mill Market

FROM retro items to antique furniture, Ballarat's new Mill Markets were buzzing with enthusiasts at the weekend.The Mill Markets have opened their latest site at The Great Southern Woolshed, after taking over ownership last year. With some renovations, the site had plenty to offer browsers on Saturday.Managing director Ian Ballis said each Mill Markets was site specific, such as Daylesford, which had plenty of health and well-being products.He said the Ballarat site, which will be open daily, would have wool and alpaca items among its range."We'll also have a lot of vintage vinyl and retro clothing here, as Ballarat has such a university student following," he said.Mr Ballis, who considers himself "a bit of a 70s nut", has collected about 700 leather jackets.He particularly liked the 70s retro range at the new site."Our biggest sellers are records, books and vintage clothing," he said.Yesterday was an opportunity for potential stall holders to visit the site, assess the mix on offer and see where they could capitalise on what it was lacking."One of the good things is the entry to Ballarat; we can capture the tourists and direct them to other attractions," Mr Ballis said.The owners are working on plans to build their function centre on the woolshed grounds, catering for up to 2000 people.Mr Ballis said depending on planning and building, it was hoped to be operating in 12 months, with a machinery expo already booked in."It will be something we can hopefully attract things like antique fairs, collections fairs and trade shows, and cater as well."