NewsBite

Melbourne retail

October

Victoria slipped one spot to fourth despite leading on construction work done amid its Big Build projects, according to CommSec chief economist Ryan Felsman.

Labor is killing Victoria’s economy: Dutton

Western Australia topped CommSec’s latest State of the States report, which tracks key economic indicators to determine which jurisdiction is performing best.

  • Updated
  • Gus McCubbing
Space for rent: Aoife Kealy, Cross Yarra Partnership’s director for commercial development and services at Melbourne’s Parkville Metro station on Tuesday.

No trains or passengers yet, but Melbourne’s new Metro Rail has shops

Passengers travelling through the twin 9-kilometre tunnels, opening next year, will create a whole new market of shoppers for retailers.

  • Michael Bleby
Armadale Cellars owner Phil Hude says work from home has hugely benefited many suburban retail strips

Working from home brings suburban strips back to life

Vacancy rates on affluent retail strips such as High Street Armadale in Melbourne are plunging as more people work from home and shop locally.

  • Larry Schlesinger

August

Chelsea McIntosh is shutting down the second-last of her gift shops, in a prime Melbourne CBD location, after it was losing her $10,000 a month.

‘Heartbreaking’: Melbourne stores bite the dust as workers stay home

Small-business owner Chelsea McIntosh has been forced to close down six out of seven gift shops she ran in Melbourne’s CBD as the retail sector has been rattled.

  • Gus McCubbing

March

Andrea Vignali, Davide Bonadiman and Michelle Badek at Al Dente Enoteca in Melbourne.

Restaurant cancellation fees are popping up everywhere. Here’s why

Fine dining venues in Sydney and Melbourne are charging between $50 to nearly $200 a head for last-minute cancellations amid sustained cost pressures.

  • Gus McCubbing
Advertisement

January

VB is in and sushi is out despite prices easing

The boss of Australia’s largest independent retailer says that while easing inflation will allay rate hike fears, premium products still aren’t selling.

  • Gus McCubbing

August 2023

John Condilis, chairman of Melbourne-based label Nobody Denim, says manufacturing in Australia is untenable.

Nobody Denim axes 40 staff, raising questions about its manufacturing future

The company’s chairman, John Condilis, said “various options” were being explored to continue some outsourced local manufacturing.

  • Carrie LaFrenz

May 2023

Richard Facioni (left) from ACTA Captial and The Walt Disney Co’s Tim Everett in front of a new store for the National Geographic brand in Melbourne.

National Geographic stores open despite shaky consumer backdrop

The legendary 135-year-old company is opening its first apparel store in Melbourne this week.

  • Carrie LaFrenz

January 2023

The eastern section of Melbourne CBD’s is thriving and Matt Thomas, who runs Lonsdale Street bar HER, couldn’t be happier.

Melbourne shoppers spend more as city hums back to life

Shoppers in the Victorian capital spent more than in December than the same time in 2019, despite overall traffic still being down, in a sign the city is roaring back to life.

  • Gus McCubbing

November 2022

Sales at Tony Foster’s CBD Bakery, on Melbourne’s Bourke Street, are down 50 per cent on 2019 levels.

Can Melbourne’s ‘scarred’ CBD ever recover? These businesses fear not

The failure of the Melbourne CBD to return to anywhere near its former glory was highlighted in another month of poor office occupancy rates.

  • Gus McCubbing and Larry Schlesinger
Brooke Hayman (left) and Julian White, who have run Melbourne bar Whisky and Alement since 2010, fear that the city has not rebounded from its rolling lockdowns.

Melbourne CBD’s slow return to normal after ‘seismic’ lockdowns

A poll last week found 62 per cent of Victorians say Melbourne’s CBD is worse than pre-COVID-19, but while some restaurants bemoan conditions others are booked out.

  • Gus McCubbing

October 2022

Melbourne CBD shops change hands on yield below 3pc

The Lonsdale Street transaction is one of a number of retail property deals in the past year struck on very tight yields.

  • Nick Lenaghan

May 2022

HomeCo Knoxfield sold on a 5 per cent yield.

Private developers spend $75m on Melbourne malls

HomeCo has sold its Knoxfield homemaker centre for $45 million while Chinese investors lost a chunk of money on the sale of a Mornington mall.

  • Larry Schlesinger

March 2022

 The number of people spending at bars and restaurants lifted to the highest levels in February since prior to the COVID-19 crisis. 

February retail sales positive as life gets back to normal

The number of people shopping, spending at bars and restaurants, going to the gym and getting some relaxation at their local park lifted to the highest levels in February since prior to the COVID-19 crisis. 

  • Ronald Mizen

December 2021

Clyde town centre site.

Developers swoop on $200m of outer Melbourne housing sites

Melbourne-based Jinding has snapped up two sites in the city’s north for $130m while the Clyde Town Centre site has been bought by Sydney’s Bathla Group.

  • Larry Schlesinger
Advertisement

Mall owner Vicinity steps up office tower roll-out

The development at Bayside, in Melbourne’s south-east, comes as part of an effort by Vicinity to exploit is real estate holdings, building apartments, hotels and office towers on available space within shopping centres.

  • Nick Lenaghan

September 2021

members reserve

The key dates in Melbourne’s reopening plan

The Victorian government announced its reopening plan. Here are the key dates for metro Melbourne. All settings and dates may change pending hospital caseloads and health advice.

July 2021

Retail trade fell in June.

June retail sales plunge, July will be worse

Retail trade fell 1.8 per cent in June as lockdowns restricted movement and forced stores to temporarily close their doors.

  • Updated
  • Ronald Mizen

June 2021

Melbourne faces an agonising wait to a way out of lockdown.

Melbourne business needs to know road out

Melbourne business owners are being kept in the dark about the state government’s road out of lockdown. They deserve more.

  • James Thomson

March 2021

Myer to shut Knox store in suburban Melbourne

Myer has been shutting stores and shrinking floor space as it aims to become a more digitally led retailer.

  • Carrie LaFrenz

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/melbourne-retail-1m4o