The rise of world class CBD malls

It would be remiss of me not to blog about the new Zara stores opening in Sydney’s shiny new Pitt Street Mall for several reasons; not all of them about fashion retailing.

Australia is gaining a good reputation for designing, building and refurbishing very high quality and very appetising CBD malls. The designs, accessibility and stores in these malls are so attractive to shoppers that they become destinations for suburban, interstate and even international visitors holidaying in Sydney. Malls reenergise our city centres and draw people in over the weekends and on public holidays.

Westfield’s Bond Junction was featured in Paco Underhill’s book ‘The Call of the Mall’ because of its innovative layout, range of services and overall atmosphere. A world-class CBD mall. Not the biggest, just a very clever use of premium retailing space in a big city centre.

Westfield’s Pitt Street Mall in Sydney has been shaping up to be a truly world-class CBD mall for some months now and as each new store opens the effect is entrancing. The range and quality of stores, along with the brands and experiences, all in one central location is well worth the 60 minute drive from the ‘burbs or the position on the ‘to do’ list for the city’s tourists.

Within this amazing range of stores is now our first Zara store. Big, bold, but tastefully subtle, the store faces the traditional Pitt Street entrance and will be a destination for tens of thousands of shoppers.

Zara is, and of itself, a world-class company, not just retailer. It has found its first home in Australia in a truly world-class mall. Most pleasing is that, even though it is surrounded by very premium stores and brands with frightening price tickets, Zara has stayed true to its brand philosophy by adopting its global price positioning. The store is selling high quality, well made and designed clothing, at a mid price level. The company has chosen to retain its pricing and not try to price up to local conditions, as Australian clothing prices are very high in relation to most of the rest of the western world.

In a short time a new Zara store will open in Melbourne, and while Zara’s owning company Inditex, like ALDI, is wealthy enough to open 200 stores across Australia in five years, it will not be able to. Our very restrictive retail zoning laws will prevent that growth. However, given that way we live and shop in the year 2011, expect to see Zara sell as much as a 200 store networks over 10 years via 50 stores and an outstanding online retail service.

In his role as CEO of CROSSMARK, Kevin Moore looks at the world of retailing from grocery to pharmacy, bottle shops to car dealers, corner store to department stores. In this insightful blog, Kevin covers retail news, ideas, companies and emerging opportunities in Australia, NZ, the US and Europe. His international career in sales and marketing has seen him responsible for business in over 40 countries, which has earned him grey hair and a wealth of expertise in international retailers and brands. CROSSMARK Asia Pacific is Australasia’s largest provider of retail marketing services, consulting to and servicing some of Australasia’s biggest retailers and manufacturers.