News & Discussion: CBD Retail

[Allkai]

Work has been slow going on RMP. Nothing visible has changed since OPSM opened in November. Hopefully lots behind the hoarding.

Looks like they've started dismantling the old escalators this week.

[Llessur2002]

Looks like they've started dismantling the old escalators this week.

That started a few weeks before Christmas - was quite interesting to see how they work and how they are assembled.

As well as the hoarding in the main centre, they have also had some erected in the office lobby for a while now. I noticed this morning that behind the hoarding now instead of a wall which would have formed the back of the small Cheers Cut! (?) food outlet, it is open all the way through to where Raymond Poulton used to be located, as well as down to the lower ground floor - I think there is a new staircase going in here.

There is definitely quite a lot of work going on in the building - not only behind the hoarding on the ground floor but also, if you peer up the old escalators, there is work being undertaken on floors 1 and 2 as well. There has been an incessant banging from the second floor which can be heard very clearly on the third floor going on for a few days now so something's definitely happening there....

[Patrick_27]

The Citi Centre Arcade Telstra Shop closed yesterday (Wednesday Jan 31), they were already taking their signs down off the building at 7.00PM. They will be reopening in the old BankSA building (opposite RMP) in April, it looks as though they will be using multiple levels of this building, I imagine it'll be similar to their Bourke Street store in Melbourne.

The Roger David shopfront has already been boarded up, looks like someone is getting ready to fit it out.

Also, Lush have been closed for renovations? Reopening this Saturday. Not sure what renovations could be done to a brand new store...

[timtam20292]

In regards to Lush, maybe something they couldn't fix then is being fixed now?

[arki]

The Citi Centre Arcade Telstra Shop closed yesterday (Wednesday Jan 31), they were already taking their signs down off the building at 7.00PM. They will be reopening in the old BankSA building (opposite RMP) in April, it looks as though they will be using multiple levels of this building, I imagine it'll be similar to their Bourke Street store in Melbourne.

Suncorp will be opening a new branch in the former Tesltra Citi Centre space. i presume they will be closing their Grenfell street branch when the lease expires.

[utaussiefan]

With Telstra moving into the old BankSA site, it wouldn't surprise me if the City Cross store closes soon. wouldn't make sense to have two stores so close together.

[YellowRoad]

Article via the Advertiser about the 40m Rundle Mall Plaza upgrade, with H&M to open its first Adelaide store in the revamped plaza later this year!

A SWEDISH fashion giant is set to spearhead a $40 million revival of a central Adelaide retail site. A vast H & M store will open later this year in Rundle Mall Plaza, as part of an extensive redevelopment of the prominent, if tired, arcade that began in August 2017.

Couldnt get past the paywall because the article is only minutes old, but ill attached the link for your perusal: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/ ... faac4335e8

[crawf]

FINALLY Confirmation!

Fashion giant H&M set to open four-storey store in redeveloped Rundle Mall Plaza
Jade Gailberger, City Editor, The Advertiser

GLOBAL fashion juggernaut H&M is finally set to hit Adelaide, with a four-storey store to be the centrepiece of the $40 million redevelopment of Rundle Mall Plaza.

South Australia is the last state to get a store of the famed Swedish brand, which H&M Australia and New Zealand manager Hans Andersson said was due to the need to find the right retail space.

“We wanted to have the best location possible and now we have it, finally,” he said.

“The only option we really looked at was Rundle Mall because it is like Pitt St Mall here in Sydney, it is where you have to be.”

Mr Andersson said the retailer planned to open 390 stores globally in 2018, and had heard from South Australians that “they really want us to come”.

“When we opened in Canberra (in December), we got mostly very positive emails from customers but there was also one thing: ‘How could you open in Canberra before you open in Adelaide?’ ” he said.

“But it is (about getting the right) location and now we are coming.

“I had hoped in my wildest dreams ... to open Adelaide earlier, but looking back, what we will have at the end of this year we are extremely happy with.”

Mr Andersson said shoppers could expect a “few new things” in the store layout when it opens in the second half of the year, as well as a fun, “exciting and inviting” experience when browsing for clothing, sportswear, underwear, shoes and homewares.

“We want the store to be very, very good so we don’t have an exact (opening) date yet,” he said.

Since opening its first southern hemisphere store at Melbourne’s GPO in 2014, H&M has grown to 26 outlets in Australia and three in New Zealand.

It will open a Hobart store in the first half of this year as well as one in Mandurah, WA.

Mr Andersson said he hoped to open more SA stores in the future.

“There are no definite plans for today because we will start with this one,” he said.

“But considering the importance of Adelaide as a city, 1.4 million people, universities, young fashionable people, many tourists coming for the wine festivals and events, I definitely think there is a potential for more stores.

“We are extremely happy and excited and we can’t wait until we open our doors in Adelaide.”

The $40 million redevelopment of Rundle Mall Plaza will include a new dining area and a health and wellbeing precinct.

Rundle Mall Plaza to undergo $40 million revamp, H & M to open first SA store
Richard Evans, Commercial Property, The Advertiser


A vast H & M store will open later this year in Rundle Mall Plaza, as part of an extensive redevelopment of the prominent, if tired, arcade that began in August 2017.

Bringing H & M to Adelaide as a major tenant of the revitalised building is a major coup for the plaza, said Peter Weinert, executive director of the Weinert Group, which owns the Rundle Mall Plaza.

“There is no doubt the time is right for this important redevelopment and introduction of this outstanding new H & M store into South Australia,” said Mr Weinert, originally from SA and now a well-known businessman and former chairman of the AFL’s Sydney Swans.

“This significant commitment by the Weinert Group shows continuing confidence in SA’s retail sector. The completed development will provide a unique shopping experience, and with H & M as the major tenant, we expect Rundle Mall Plaza to not only be a significant drawcard for Rundle Mall in particular, but Adelaide in general.”

The redevelopment will span 12,000sq m across the four lower levels of the nine-storey building and will feature a lower ground tech hub, a ground floor dedicated to retail and fashion, plus a new dining precinct on level one and a health and wellbeing precinct planned for level two.

Current lower ground tenants include JB Hi-Fi and EB Games, with OPSM situated on the ground floor.

Much of the floor of level two will be demolished to create a double-height dining precinct with large glass windows overlooking Rundle Mall.

A new multistorey void at the main entrance will be another standout architectural feature, hosting the relocated, and iconic, “Progress Statue” above the entrance to the plaza.

The redevelopment’s leasing agent for the level-one dining precinct, CBRE’s Julie Thomas, said plans were quite spectacular.

“A double-height glass atrium will be the centrepiece of a sophisticated art deco-styled precinct, offering sunlight, atmosphere and views over Rundle Mall,” she said.

“It will be a destination in itself.

“The Terrace” will create an enjoyable shopping and business lunch experience, concentrating on higher-quality food and beverage operators.”

The large-scale project creates exciting opportunities for new retailers, with numerous tenancies to be filled, said Ms Thomas, who currently has several other CBD leases also in need of new tenants.

Rundle Mall Plaza was constructed in the 1960s as a stand-alone David Jones department store, and the original builder, Hansen Yuncken, has been appointed as the principal contractor for the redevelopment.

Architects Hames Sharley will also be on-board with the redesign.

The Weinert Group was founded by Peter Weinert’s father, Jack, who pioneered shopping centre development in SA — including bringing Coles to Adelaide’s Central Market — from the late 1950s.

Peter Weinert, a current co-patron of the Sydney Swans, is based in Sydney and has consolidated the Group’s property investment and development base over three states, but still regards Adelaide as the company’s prime retail focus, he said.

About fkn time!

This possibly means Uniqlo is destined for the other multi-level retail tenancy on Gawler Place.

[timtam20292]

Amazing news!

[Norman]

I'm looking forward to the new dining precinct, it will be interesting to see how the views will be onto Rundle Mall.

[Brucetiki]

Wow! Wow! Wow!

The whole upgrade sounds amazing.

[[Shuz]]

Brilliant news. Can't wait to see the end result!

But I'm not looking forward to seeing my bank balance after an afternoon shopping at H&M.

[Algernon]

Brilliant news. Can't wait to see the end result!

But I'm not looking forward to seeing my bank balance after an afternoon shopping at H&M.

I don't think I've bought clothes anywhere else for the last 3 years. Where I live I'm paying with a 15:1 exchange rate and my wallet still gets slaughtered

[Llessur2002]

I would have picked H&M to go into a space as big or even bigger than Apple - with the same length of storefront. I can't think of anywhere in the mall that can offer that. Supre is small.

it's actually quite wide I don't know exact dimensions though to compare. They have recently removed the roof and are building a second level.

Granted, it's not got any street frontage but how big's the old Harris Scarfe area in the Rundle Mall Plaza building? I never went in there...

Called it back in April 2015

Is great news for the city - plus I can finally update my fast-becoming-threadbare shirt collection...

Oh, and here's the latest tenant update document on the works. A new render of the food court is in there too:

[pushbutton]

Absolutely awesome!