Meet the Mainstreet Australia Heroes: Stavros & Circe Zikou – Founders, Marketa
For Marketa, it has been an absolute privilege to spend more than 25 years immersed in the main street movement – working alongside passionate traders, committees, councils and communities who genuinely care about their precincts.
For us, precinct management has never been about sitting behind a desk. It’s about being on the ground, walking the streets, listening to traders, solving problems, building relationships and making things happen.
We’re incredibly proud to have worked with precincts right across Melbourne, helping them navigate funding, governance and change, while securing and renewing special rate levies that provide the investment and stability needed to thrive. We’ve also loved watching the industry evolve from “tick-the-box” activity into meaningful campaigns, events and experiences that create energy, drive visitation and bring communities together.
If 25 years has taught us anything, it’s that consistency, adaptability and relationships are everything. The strongest precincts keep showing up, keep listening, embrace change and build genuine trust with their traders and communities.
And that’s what we admire most about this industry – the incredible people behind it. The traders who take risks, the volunteers who give their time, the committees who keep pushing forward and the communities who continue to support their local main streets.
Main streets are so much more than places to shop. They are the heart of our communities – places where people connect, businesses grow and memories are made.
We absolutely love what we do and feel enormously proud to have played our small part in this wonderful industry and its ongoing story.
Happy Trading,
Stavros & Circe – Marketa
