News & Discussion: CBD Retail

[Omicron]

Peter Alexander will be the last of the 4 retail tenancies at the Woolworths site.

um, who?

Pricey pyjamas, my child. Follow yon linketh: http://www.peteralexander.com.au/

[Will]

Peter Alexander will be the last of the 4 retail tenancies at the Woolworths site.

um, who?

Pricey pyjamas, my child. Follow yon linketh: http://www.peteralexander.com.au/

I have never understood why people buy pyjamas. What's wrong with sleeping in boxer-shorts or your old footy shorts?

[monotonehell]

I have never understood why people buy pyjamas. What's wrong with sleeping in boxer-shorts or your old footy shorts?

Don't be silly Will. You wouldn't fit in my old footy shorts.

[AtD]

Good news, hopefully it goes though.

New Rundle Mall holiday trading push
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 013306.htm

There is a new push for all retailers in Rundle Mall in Adelaide to be able to open on public holidays.

At the moment, shops larger than 200 square metres are not allowed to trade.

Adelaide MP Rachel Sanderson wants to extend the opportunity to all retailers by declaring the Mall a tourist precinct.

She plans to introduce a private member's bill to State Parliament today.

"I think particularly [for] the country people that come down on long weekends to do all of their business and shopping and have access to stores they don't have in the country areas, having the centre open on a public holidays is of great value to them, as well as interstate and overseas visitors," she said.

"It's about opening Rundle Mall on non-religious public holidays and providing a greater opportunity for tourism and linkages to our cultural boulevards on North Terrace and the proposed riverside development."

[AtD]

An older article on the same bill:
http://www.independentweekly.com.au/new ... torypage=0

Mall plan for public holidays
DANIELLE FORSYTH
28 Aug, 2010 04:00 AM
Rundle Mall traders could open on public holidays if a Bill to be introduced in Parliament next month receives bi-partisan support.

The Bill, put forward by Member for Adelaide Rachel Sanderson, proposes opening the mall and its arcades, as well as the Target store on Pulteney Street, for seven out of 11 public holidays using the same argument by which Glenelg shops were allowed to trade on Sundays ahead of the rest of the state in 2000.

The plan has the backing of the Rundle Mall Management Authority and the South Australian Tourism Industry Council, which say it would revitalise the city and add millions to revenue.

Ms Sanderson said it was time Rundle Mall’s value as a tourist destination was recognised.

“The criteria used to make Jetty Road a tourism precinct was the amount of accommodation and tourist destinations and the number of stores, and Rundle Mall beats that on every count,” she said.

Stores of more than 200sqm cannot currently open on a public holiday. Under the Bill, shops would remain closed on Christmas Day, Easter Friday and Sunday, and Anzac Day.

Ms Sanderson said the Bill had been carefully crafted to protect workers and shop owners. Employees cannot be forced to work on public holidays and shops do not have to open.

“We need to take advantage of tourists when they are here,” Ms Sanderson said.

“The Australia Day concert brings 25,000 people to the city. If the Mall was open, they could be spending money in the shops, too.”

Ms Sanderson has spent months discussing the idea with traders and the public. She said she had received 99 per cent approval.

Rundle Mall general manager Martin Haese said the Bill was long overdue and would add $50 million to the precinct’s annual turnover.

“It would have direct impact on employment and tourism, and a very large direct impact on redefining Adelaide as a more vibrant city,” he said.

Tourism Council chief executive Ward Tilbrook agreed, saying 80 per cent of visitors to Adelaide went to the mall.

“People do like to shop when they’re on holidays, so it is an important part of the tourism mix and complements other experiences,” he said. “It would build South Australia’s tourism self-esteem.”

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association – which has significant influence on the Labor Party – seems unlikely to back the proposal, with secretary Peter Malinauskas saying it was a “slippery slope” to state-wide public holiday trading.

Mr Malinauskas said the proposal would lead to worker exploitation, but Mr Haese said employees “queue up and bend over backwards to work on public holidays”.

“There is no downside to this whatsoever,” he said. “It ticks so many boxes. It feeds back into city hotel occupancy rates, restaurants and entertainment, and makes a difference to the whole state.”

[Will]

I have never understood why people buy pyjamas. What's wrong with sleeping in boxer-shorts or your old footy shorts?

Don't be silly Will. You wouldn't fit in my old footy shorts.

That sounds like a challenge

[cruel_world00]

Good news, hopefully it goes though.

New Rundle Mall holiday trading push
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 013306.htm

There is a new push for all retailers in Rundle Mall in Adelaide to be able to open on public holidays.

At the moment, shops larger than 200 square metres are not allowed to trade.

Adelaide MP Rachel Sanderson wants to extend the opportunity to all retailers by declaring the Mall a tourist precinct.

She plans to introduce a private member's bill to State Parliament today.

"I think particularly [for] the country people that come down on long weekends to do all of their business and shopping and have access to stores they don't have in the country areas, having the centre open on a public holidays is of great value to them, as well as interstate and overseas visitors," she said.

"It's about opening Rundle Mall on non-religious public holidays and providing a greater opportunity for tourism and linkages to our cultural boulevards on North Terrace and the proposed riverside development."

HA! "non-religious public holidays"... COME ON... it's one or the other. All public holidays or none. Don't pull the religion card.

[crawf]

It would not be appropriate for traders to open on Christmas, Good Friday and Anzac Day. Those days should always be off limits for the retail industry

Fingers cross this bill goes ahead, it will be a win for common sense!

[Will]

From the Messenger:

New shops fuel Mall renaissance

Local News15 Sep 10 @ 04:15pm by Emily Charrison


RUNDLE Mall is undergoing a retail renaissance, with more than 20 new shops opening their doors in the precinct in the past three months.

The Rundle Mall Management Authority has reported a surge in retailers moving into the strip recently, such as fair trade shop Tree of Life and global stationery brand Smiggle, while several others, including JAG, will open before Christmas.

Rundle St has also welcomed two new traders, with sports retailer Lorna Jayne opening this month and fashion label Metalicus joining in October.

Retail experts have credited the upswing in interest to the introduction of early evening 7pm trading, which kicks off next month, as well as the creation of a masterplan to redevelop the precinct.

Knight Frank retail leasing agent Adrian Raison said the extended weekday hours and ramped up marketing campaigns had created a surge of interest.

“It’s having a positive effect but, for a lot of national retailers, it’s purely about having their presence in Rundle Mall,” he said.

Rundle Mall chairman Theo Maras said the strip had rebranded itself as a a hub for “exclusive” shops, in turn driving up demand for new, one-off leases.

“We want one-off shops that won’t be in Marion or Tea Tree Plaza,” he said. “And, once you get one or two exclusive tenants coming in, you find others want to be there, too.”

Bras N Things has just moved up the mall into a new shop opposite Harris Scarfe.

Manager Helen Flourentzou said the lingerie retailer liked the strip.

“It’s the heart of South Australia and the foot traffic is fantastic,” she said.

[metro]

i could have sworn just a few months ago i was reading that the mall was 'dying'

[rhino]

Bras N Things manager Helen Flourentzou said the lingerie retailer liked the strip.

Very well written, that woman!

[Brando]

Bras N Things manager Helen Flourentzou said the lingerie retailer liked the strip.

Very well written, that woman!

[pushbutton]

The whole point of a public holiday is that the public get a holiday (eg, don't go to work). Considering retail is one of South Australias biggest employer industries, if shops opened on public holidays then we may as well just abolish public holidays completely. For the many thousands of people who work in retail and supporting industries, let's preserve what little remains for them in terms of guaranteed time off work!

As for getting around trading laws by declaring Rundle Mall a "tourist precinct" well that's just another very sad reflection on the dire state of Adelaides tourism industry (or rather lack of one). People won't come and visit Adelaide to go shopping! They can shop at home. It's not even as if our shopping centres (Rundle Mall included) are anything out of the ordinary.

Most shops don't open on public holidays in places like London, or other British cities, or in many other countries with much bigger populations than Australia, so why should we force it upon workers here? There's quite a few countries where shops still don't open on Sundays.

There's ample time for shopping already, and I enjoy it as much as the next guy, but there's more to life! Am I the only one who thinks so?

[AtD]

I disagree completely! As a student I loved working on public holidays. As a full time wage slave, I hate that I have to schedule my scarce free time around arbitrary and mandatory trading hours. And finally, as a resident of a small city, I DO enjoy shopping in the major cities as a tourist.

This is not aimed at tourists from Paris. It is aimed at tourists from Port Lincoln and Alice Springs. Get over your cultural cringe.

When I worked in retail we had no problem filling night and weekend shifts with students. It was the 9-5 Mon-Fri shifts that were hard to fill. No one wants to work full time in retail these days.

This is the 21st century and people have a wide range of lifestyles. The retailers want to meet their customer's demands. If there's no demand then the shops wouldn't open. So where's the risk?

[mrblackrooster]

...Am I the only one who thinks so?

gees mate I bloody hope so