News & Discussion: CBD Retail

[Patrick_27]

I'm very much of the opinion that they should semi-pedestrianize Rundle Street.

Make the footpaths wider with more space for street dining, and reduce the road to one lane of one way traffic for access.

If that is successful, move to making the street closed off like during Fringe weekends for all summer weekend evenings.

Absolutely agree - have all car park access from Pulteney Street on a two way access road that would extend no further than the Wilson car park entry and make the remaining portions beween Wilson and Frome and West Terrace single lane and ideally shared-space as opposed to a dedicated vehicle lane. Potentially, when the UPark is gone then the Wilson access could be reconfigured to be off of Pulteney Street north of Centrepoint.

Ideally this would be a precursor to a full pedestrianisation.

I'm a big fan of all of these ideas.

I think Pulteney Street to Frome Street this can be achieved easily, but what we all forget is that Rundle Street is dead for pedestrians during the winter and businesses rely on vehicle traffic and roadside parking for a lot of their trade. I certainly think that it during the summer months they should explore having longer periods of time where the entire street is closed, be that whole weekends or every night of the week.

[SBD]

Absolutely agree - have all car park access from Pulteney Street on a two way access road that would extend no further than the Wilson car park entry and make the remaining portions beween Wilson and Frome and West Terrace single lane and ideally shared-space as opposed to a dedicated vehicle lane. Potentially, when the UPark is gone then the Wilson access could be reconfigured to be off of Pulteney Street north of Centrepoint.

Ideally this would be a precursor to a full pedestrianisation.

I'm a big fan of all of these ideas.

I think Pulteney Street to Frome Street this can be achieved easily, but what we all forget is that Rundle Street is dead for pedestrians during the winter and businesses rely on vehicle traffic and roadside parking for a lot of their trade. I certainly think that it during the summer months they should explore having longer periods of time where the entire street is closed, be that whole weekends or every night of the week.

I wonder if anyone has done an actual survey of customers to find out how far they walked from their car Even better if the results could also be weighted by how much they spent.

"we all know" that inner-city businesses depend on having parking right out the front.

I have difficulty walking long distances, so the last few times I have been in the city, my wife drove rather than us using public transport. We parked in Pitt Street Care Park to access a few places along Pitt Street three days. We drove to the Wilson Parking station opposite Calvary Hospital for appointments at Calvary Adelaide (yes, one day we used both places) and another day recently used Wilson, then drove to UPark Central Market. All of the places we went to had on-street parking in front, but we didn't use it as parking stations are more reliably available.

I doubt the bulk of a day's business at any time of day for an inner-city business comes from customers who have walked less than a hundred metres from their car parked on the street.

[Nort]

Absolutely agree - have all car park access from Pulteney Street on a two way access road that would extend no further than the Wilson car park entry and make the remaining portions beween Wilson and Frome and West Terrace single lane and ideally shared-space as opposed to a dedicated vehicle lane. Potentially, when the UPark is gone then the Wilson access could be reconfigured to be off of Pulteney Street north of Centrepoint.

Ideally this would be a precursor to a full pedestrianisation.

I'm a big fan of all of these ideas.

I think Pulteney Street to Frome Street this can be achieved easily, but what we all forget is that Rundle Street is dead for pedestrians during the winter and businesses rely on vehicle traffic and roadside parking for a lot of their trade. I certainly think that it during the summer months they should explore having longer periods of time where the entire street is closed, be that whole weekends or every night of the week.

That's why I think it should be a staged transition, to minimize any negative effects as the businesses adapt and discover if the extra customers are there. Certainly in the middle of winter a traffic-less Rundle Street probably isn't any less appealing than a pedestrianized version, either way I and I suspect >90% of customers would prefer to be indoors.

During warmer months however if I knew that the street had a better atmosphere I would be much more likely to wander down there for a drink or a meal than I currently would.

Starting off with the street being adapted to a single lane in one direction in a "share space" style construction would allow the immediate retention of as many street parking spaces as currently exist, while adding a lot more space for street dining and allowing easy adaption to expand the pedestrian space in future if the initiative is successful without major works being required.

[The Scooter Guy]

UPDATES from me:

1. The former Rhodes & Beckett on Grenfell St outside the 'Black Stump' is becoming a new BOQ (Bank Of Queensland) branch after sitting vacant for a couple of years.
2. Lucky 7 on Bank St could not compete with Adelaide Convenience on North Tce and so it has closed down.
3. The Stage Shop has left the city (moved from Leigh St to Mile End).
4. Australia's Pizza House on Bank St is being converted to a pirate themed whisky bar.
5. Former 83 On Currie (Vacant since 2018) and Avant Garde are still in limbo.

[Nathan]

pirate themed whisky bar.

But pirates drank rum...

[The Scooter Guy]

pirate themed whisky bar.

But pirates drank rum...

It's called the 'Caribbean Rum & Whisky Bar'

[AndyWelsh]

New home of Rebel on Rundle Mall:



Maybe one day this canopy will be finished:





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Patrick_27]

Any idea why Rundle Square management/contractors are taking so damn long to complete the external facelift? Side-note: I hope there is a long-term plan to re-clad the white precast elements of the SA Health building above with black to match up with what's happening on street level.

Also, I spoke to staff at Dymocks the other week, the timeframe is to have a new permanent location by October/November. Whilst they're of the understanding they will likely go back to a Rundle Mall frontage, I do wonder whether the timing of Rebel opening their new store (and potentially closing one or both of their existing stores) might somewhat coincide with Dymocks' timeframe and therefore might potentially lead to Myer Centre's management offering up Rebel's existing footprint to Dymocks. Apparently centre management are really pleased with the foot traffic that Dymocks are generating for the upper levels. Also, considering Dymocks Rundle Mall/Adelaide didn't technically change owners per-se, it simply fell back into the lap of the national franchise owner, I would suggest that they're not too concerned with profit margins like a franchisee might be.

[crawf]

New home of Rebel on Rundle Mall:

Would of been perfect for Uniqlo or Zara .... Oh well

[crawf]

With Target in Melbourne and Perth CBDs being converted into Kmart. I wonder if Target in Adelaide's CBD will eventually be converted into a Kmart too?. This would replace the current smaller format store in the Renaissance Centre.. one of the ugliest buildings in the mall.

[Eurostar]

With Target in Melbourne and Perth CBDs being converted into Kmart. I wonder if Target in Adelaide's CBD will eventually be converted into a Kmart too?. This would replace the current smaller format store in the Renaissance Centre.. one of the ugliest buildings in the mall.

Ideally Kmart would be best in the Rundle Place on level 1 and 2.

[Norman]

With Target in Melbourne and Perth CBDs being converted into Kmart. I wonder if Target in Adelaide's CBD will eventually be converted into a Kmart too?. This would replace the current smaller format store in the Renaissance Centre.. one of the ugliest buildings in the mall.

Ideally Kmart would be best in the Rundle Place on level 1 and 2.

I disagree. Having luxury brands on the ground floor and a discount department store on the upper doesn't mix well. The current location works well because it's an old, run-down building.

[ChillyPhilly]

Something happening in the Myer Centre on Level 4.

[Uncle Monty]

CDW Studios are expanding outwards by filling in some of the void to create extra floor space.

[The Scooter Guy]

Something happening in the Myer Centre on Level 4.

This past month, Priceline Pharmacy on the lower ground level closed its doors for good.
Just recently, Hairhouse Warehouse on the same floor has also suddenly shut for good.
(On the shutter door, there's a letter from CBRE stating that the premises have been repossessed).
The former Nine West, Motoquip and Shoe Shed tenancies are still hoarded up.
Unless the management gets its act together at anytime somehow, the entire centre will be NO MORE in a few years because we are as this nigh to losing it.