Bellbowrie Shopping Plaza a ghost town despite the approval of a significant revamp

A shopping plaza in Brisbane’s west is a ghost town since losing Coles and now a second supermarket chain but there are fresh hopes of a revival. VIDEO, POLL, TIMELINE

Hopes that supermarket franchise IGA would take over as anchor tenant at Bellbowrie Shopping Plaza in Brisbane’s west have been dealt a blow, just as another small retailer closed.

Metcash, the parent company of the IGA chain, has confirmed the supermarket “doesn’t have any current plans to open’’ at Bellbowrie Shopping Plaza.

The centre has been eerily quiet since June last year when Coles moved out to a new shopping centre on higher ground at Moggill — the first new centre in the area in half a century.

A popular bakery shut its doors just weeks before the Coles move and since then more small retailers have left, including a doctor’s surgery and hairdresser.

The closures continued last week when Star Seafood & Burger served its final customer, while the Woka Woka Thai restaurant also shut recently.

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Only 13 cars were in the front carpark on Thursday morning.

The Pizza Hut was advertised for sale in August, with an online ad saying the owner was going overseas.

The few remaining small retailers included a Terry White chemist, fruit shop, cafe and Snap Fitness gym.

At its peak, the centre boasted nearly 30 tenants including the Coles and a hardware store.

A number of empty shopfronts however had “leased’’ signs and the former Coles space still had signs announcing “new supermarket coming soon’’.

When Westside News visited on Thursday morning there were just 13 cars in the carpark, which has a capacity of about 400 spaces.

The near-empty centre on Thursday morning.

Attempts to contact the centre owner were unsuccessful.

But the remaining small retailers were hopeful of a rebound in foot traffic once work was completed on a major upgrade.

Believed to be worth about $12 million, the upgrade was revealed in December last year and approved by Council in February.

Work was now well under way and would include a new elevated carpark, replacement entry, new awning roofs, upgraded building entries, reglazed windows, new landscaped garden beds and refreshed paintwork.

Construction work near the former Coles. A sign still says a new supermarket is coming.

The Sparc architects design also included an extra lift connection from the basement and installation of emergency flood gates.

Brad Colliss, who has owned the popular fruit and vegetable shop and adjacent florist for seven years, said many locals had remained loyal but he estimated trade had dropped about 30 per cent since Coles moved out.

He had had a “hard look’’ at his business and was confident enough to spend $20,000 on renovations.

Fruit and flower shop owner Brad Colliss says Bellbowrie locals have been loyal to his business.

“There’s been a lot of bad press about the centre, but it’s a great site and once the (upgrade) is finished I think it will come back,’’ Mr Colliss said.

“People know we’re more than just a fruit shop and that we’ve worked hard to be part of the community.

“In the (February) flood I canoed across the river to open up, because people were cut off and needed food.

“I had to camp overnight in the shop but someone loaned me a generator and others gave me food and even a six pack.’’

Moccabella cafe owner Mars Zhu.

The second-generation fruit shop owner, whose business always does a brisk trade, said he employed 18 locals and sourced as much product locally as possible, including flowers from a Karalee farm.

He said the centre owner had been very generous, even allowing him to store produce in a space across from the shop.

Mars Zhu, who bought the Moccabella coffee shop next door to Mr Colliss a year ago, said it was his first venture as a shop owner.

He finished redecorating only last week and now planned to update the menu, which had been unchanged for five years.

“It got quieter after a coffee shop opened (at Moggill Village). We need a supermarket to get foot traffic but (in the meantime) I am trying to appeal to younger customers as well as our regulars,’’ he said.

The floodprone centre closed during the February deluge and shut for weeks in 2011, but the upgrade was designed to make it more resilient in the next event, including drainage works.