More stores expected to open as retail begins ‘progressive’ reopening
As retail shopping begins its revival, we give you a breakdown of what has reopened and where you can grab some late night bargains in Brisbane. It’s just in time too, with Mother’s Day only days away.
QLD News
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
RETAILERS are hoping that a last-minute “dad dash” before Mother’s Day will help the struggling sector as it begins to re-emerge from lockdown.
Restrictions on non-essential shopping trips were lifted last weekend, and now a slew of retailers like Adairs, Kathmandu and Cotton On have become the latest to throw open their doors to customers.
Premier provides latest on new COVID-19 cases
Energy price: Budget providers fighting for title of cheapest energy deal
Strict social distancing measures and customer limits are still mandated, with extra cleaning practices implemented and change rooms off limits.
A small boost from Mother’s Day shopping is anticipated by discount department store Big W, which will come as good news following a claim by the National Retail Association that the retail sector lost $1 billion worth of trade in March alone.
“Restrictions are slowly lifting across Australia, and what we’ve seen in recent weeks is an increasing of customer shopping in store,” Big W commercial general manager Teresa Rendo said.
“Interestingly for us, this has seen no degradation of the three-times uplift that we’ve seen digitally.”
Big W stores have resumed late night shopping for one night a week, with Ms Rendo saying last-minute Mother’s Day gifts as well as winter apparel and bedding have been hot sellers in recent days.
“All areas are trading positively, with exception of a few such as camping and travel which makes sense,” Ms Rendo said.
“We also saw fitness, as we saw people working from home, stationary, home office and also those items that keep the family busy such as board games and puzzles started to surge as well,” she said.
“I do also think what we’re seeing is these Mother’s Day gift ideas are surging across our stores.”
National Retail Association chief executive Dominique Lamb said the $1 billion hit to the sector in March would take a long time to recover from.
“It’s actually much harder to come back from something like this than it is to close stores,” Ms Lamb said.
“Many retailers closed stores not because they were forced to … but because there was reduced foot traffic.”
Ms Lamb said she expected a “progressive” and “slow” reopening of stores, with less than 50 per cent of retailers in major shopping centres open last weekend.
“I think you’ll see more open this weekend,” Ms Lamb said.
“It’s not going to be all in one go.”
Among shopping centres, Pacific Fair reported more than 180 stores would be open this weekend, up from 120 last week, while Indooroopilly Shopping Centre has gone from 95 to over 165 stores open over the same period.
“Mother’s Day is generally one of the strongest retail trading events in the year and with customer traffic numbers increasing, this is a great sign for our local retailers,” AMP Capital shopping centre marketing general manager Louise Raymond said.
Bedding retailer Adairs reopened 12 of its 30 Queensland stores yesterday, with the company indicating they wanted all outlets open by the end of June.
Fashion retailer Cotton On has also opened its stores at Brookside, Kawana and Willows.
It follows Myer's announcement on Wednesday that five of its 13 department stores in Queensland would reopen, while stores in other states would remain closed.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data released this week showed that despite retail sales jumping a record 8 per cent, most of the benefits went to grocery retailers as shoppers stocked up on essentials.
Clothing and footwear spending dropped 23 per cent while department store sales fell nine per cent.
At Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, families were making up much of the returning shopping crowd looking for last minute Mother’s Day gifts.
For dad Carl Dixon and daughter Pheobe, 4 the newly reopened shops were a lifesaver for the last-minute shop.
“It’s our first time here in ages, just wanted to urge on the side of caution if we didn’t need to be here,” Mr Dixon said.
“It’s good to see all the shops are opening up again and we’re able to get in and out quickly.”
For Steve Bott, the convenience of the major shopping centre having its shops open again meant it was less of a hassle to bring the kids to help.
“It was more of a hassle to get them together than it was to get Mum a present.”
Battle lines drawn over TAFE, safety upgrades for roads pitched
With less than two weeks to go before election day, Labor has drawn line in the sand over the Nambour TAFE while the LNP goes on the attack about roads in Cooroy and Palmwoods.
Man seriously injured after being hit by bus in Brisbane CBD
A man has been rushed to hospital after he suffered serious head and leg injuries after he was hit by a bus on a busy Brisbane CBD street on Thursday afternoon.