This was published 7 years ago
Fashion is hot in the city while suburban strips empty out
By Nicole Lindsay
Melbourne's shopping habits are splitting in two: fashion retailing is dominated by the magnets of the CBD and shopping centres while strip retail turns to cafe culture and dining.
But the trend is causing some angst on the street. The number of empty shops in Melbourne's key suburban retail strips spiked in the past 12 months with the vacancy rate blowing out to 9.2 per cent from 7 per cent according to Savills Australia
Green Rocket has signed up for a three-year lease at a retail shop at 1258 High Street, Armadale.
While the number of cafes, take-away food and restaurants grew 16 per cent and services rose 12 per cent, fashion and footwear dropped a massive 27 per cent and household goods slumped 24 per cent.
Savills associate research director Monica Mondkar said the fashion decline was a suburban phenomenon with data showing the number of fashion stores in the city grew by 17 per cent.
"We have seen a massive arrival of foreign fashion houses to the CBD in the past three to four years and the arrival of one has been like bees to a honey pot," Ms Mondkar said.
Research on the strips, performed by Savills Australia, reveals the vacancy rate on Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds nearly doubled from 4.1 per cent to 8.1 per cent in the past year, while Toorak Road, Toorak jumped to 10.6 per cent from 6.1 per cent in 2016.
The major suburban retail spines also suffered. Chapel Street vacancy is now running at 10.7 per cent, up from 8 per cent last year and Bridge Road, Richmond recorded a 15 per cent vacancy, up from 13.6 per cent last year. The latter could have been even higher but for the withdrawal of 42 shops for residential conversion, including the Little Group's 13-level Dux Apartments on the site of the Old Greek Theatre.
Puckle Street suffered from a lack of diversity in its retail mix and a proximity to Highpoint Shopping Centre and the city.
"Moonee Ponds is not far from the city so shoppers have the option of coming in to shop or going to Highpoint Shopping Centre," Ms Mondkar said.
The strips doing best are some distance from major shopping centres and the city, she said.
Church Street Brighton, where vacancy also spiked to 4.1 per cent from a very low 2.3 per cent, is the city's best performer and Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn came in second at 5.3 per cent but from an even lower base of 2.1 per cent.
"They are in high-income demographics and have a good balance of tenants," she said.
Fashion remains strong in only one strip – High Street Armadale – where vacancy sits at 8.7 per cent, up from 7 per cent last year. Fashion shops make up 32 per cent of its stores, many of them belonging to the strip's wedding couture specialists.