Tenants of Brisbane’s Myer Centre push for facelift after department store’s shock exit
Retailers inside Brisbane’s Myer Centre are hopeful the department store’s shock exit will give its owners a reason to do “something special”, despite no communication in the wake of the bombshell departure.
QLD Business
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Tenants of Brisbane’s Myer Centre are hoping the shock exit of its namesake department store will provide management with incentive to give the building a much needed facelift.
Retailers claim that despite receiving communication from the centre regarding Myer’s departure, they have had no information about what these changes will mean for their future.
Wake Up Coffee cafe owner Aydan Marriott is currently unclear on how this transition will impact his business, which is on level 2 of the centre,
Mr Marriott believes that despite the potential hardship a redevelopment will cause, it’s something that needs to be done.
“The current centre is a disaster, the renovation has needed to happen for years,” he said.
“They’re going to have to do something special.
“For Brisbane, it’s the best thing to happen.”
With such a large space to be left by Myer, it is not yet known how manager Vicinity Centres will approach its facility’s redevelopment to ensure its future.
“Our business is still going really well, people come to the centre to find us,” Mr Marriott said.
Matilda Smith, co-owner of retail store Our Wonderful Emporium, also on level 2 of the centre, said she is sad to see Myer go.
“It’s definitely really shocking because it’s the Myer Centre, so what does the centre look like without Myer?” she said.
Matilda and her business partner Lany Walker only recently opened their store in the Myer centre, however are optimistic about the future of the building.
“We’re quietly hopeful the transition could be really good for us,” Mrs Smith said.
“The Myer Centre is why we used to come to the city, it’s always bounced back from changes,” Ms Walker said.
QUT retail expert Gary Mortimer said the withdrawal of Myer from the Queen Street Mall centre could have a ripple effect on other retailers.
“There are already multiple vacancies in that centre,” he said.
“Other retailers will likely start asking, ‘what’s the drawcard here without an anchor tenant?’.”
Prof Mortimer said it was “incredibly unusual” for a major retailer such as Myer to withdraw from a central business district site – but he said his “gut feeling” was it was a decision made on the company’s end.
“(Chief executive) John King has been doing a lot of work with the company in returning them to strong profits,” he said.
“It’s difficult for a retail brand to offer a flagship experience in a centre which doesn’t reflect that flagship experience.”
He said he expected Myer to fulfil their commitment to search for a new inner-city Brisbane location – and said something like Wintergarden would be an opportunity.
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