Melbourne, 04 November 2015 – A surge in business confidence is helping drive growth in Victoria’s regional retail market, with national brands looking to large format retail centres across the state to expand their footprint.
CBRE Large Format Retail Director, Chris Parry, said national retailers were increasingly looking to large format retail in regional locations as a strategic growth strategy.
“The diverse economies of Victoria’s largest regional centres and lower cost basses such as rent and advertising have afforded retailers the ability to strategically expand with minimal risk,” Mr Parry said.
“We have seen a surge of interest from retailers over the past 18 month, with this momentum continuing as the market grows.”
Over the past two years, CBRE has leased almost 24,000sqm of large format retail floor space in regional Victoria, including the first regional footprint in the state for ASX listed Baby Bunting, Pillow Talk and Far Pavilion Interiors.
Mr Parry said the Victorian Government’s pledge to support the state’s regional centres was helping boost business confidence.
“The government has pledged to investment more than $500 million in its Regional Jobs and Infrastructure fund, which will underpin residential and jobs growth across the state, and create a strong argument for retailers to continue their network expansion through regional development.”
Mr Parry said one of the key large format projects receiving attention in Victoria was the Rocklea Homemaker Centre in Kangaroo Flat, Bendigo.
The centre has recently been expanded by some 5,785sqm, which places it 5% larger than the average Australian homemaker centre at approximately 18,500sqm.
Mr Parry said while the Rocklea Homemaker Centre had been adversely affected by the GFC following the national collapse of its anchor tenant Clive Peeters, however, it had undergone a transformation off the back of the growing population and strong economy.
“Over 6,948sqm of new leases with national brands has been committed to the centre, including Baby Bunting and Pillow Talk, in addition to the expansion of both Fantastic Furniture and Focus on Furniture,” Mr Parry explained.
“Previously, regional locations in Victoria had been dominated by either local retailers or a handful of national brands such as Bunnings, Super Cheap Auto and PETstock, however, with improved fundamentals we have seen a surge of new brands enter the market, giving local communities a greater access to brands and growing employment in these areas”.
It is estimated that the Rocklea Homemaker Centre added more than 38 new jobs to the local community in the past 12 months, which is anticipated to grow as Pets Domain and Adairs complete their fit outs and open for trade.
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