Retail giants Kaufland and Costco hunt for sites on Gold Coast

Hypermarket kings Kaufland have spent almost $20 million buying a site on the southern Gold Coast and is closing in on another in the north. And US giant Costco may not be far behind.

THE offshore hypermarket kings have the Gold Coast in their sights but bargain shoppers shouldn’t get excited – the wannabe newcomers are plodding at best, not running.

Germany’s Kaufland group already has bought a near-$20 million site for one of its one-stop biggies but the road to throwing open the doors isn’t exactly looking easy.

In fact, the retailer appears to be embarrassingly stalled -- the zoning on the Burleigh Heads site doesn’t allow for a Kaufland- style development.

In the meantime the group, operator of 1300 stores in Europe, has been more than scrutinising another Gold Coast property.

Costco, from the US, hasn’t opened its chequebook but has an eye out for the right property.

Kaufland has bought a large site in Burleigh Heads and is looking at another in Hope Island.

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Both aspirants are trailing years behind Germany’s Aldi group, more of an operator of what some might term small-format stores.

The cut-price operator bustled into the Gold Coast back in 2001 when it bought land at Labrador.

It’s since opened 20 supermarkets between Coolangatta and Beenleigh.

Kaufland, which has a Brisbane office, is yet to open an outlet in Australia and seems to have much of its focus on sites it has secured in Victoria and South Australia.

One of those sites, on the outskirts of Melbourne, is destined to become home to an 11.5ha distribution centre.

The ex-Bunnings site at 197 Reedy Creek Rd, Burleigh Heads, which has been bought by Kaufland. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

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Among the sellers of sites to Kaufland, the world’s fourth-largest retailer, has been the Bunnings Warehouse Property Trust and it’s an ex-Bunnings property that the group has bought at Burleigh.

The $19.74 million buy has delivered it a Reedy Creek Rd site spanning more than 3ha but it comes with a problem.

The existing zoning is mixed-use and that does not allow retail.

Kaufland needs the land to be ‘centre zone’ and it seems while a change to that zoning might be possible, achieving it could be a tough task.

The other property the German giant has been perusing, apparently quite seriously, is the former Village Square markets site at Hope Island.

There the news is better – the land is in a centre zone.

Costco says it is on the hunt for a “massive” property on the Gold Coast.

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Multiple attempts to get a Kaufland take on its Gold Coast plans have been fruitless but Costco is more forthcoming.

The retail giant, which has its HQ near Seattle and whose buildings often are three times the size of those in the Kaufland stable, admits it has been looking for a site on the Gold Coast but hasn’t committed to one.

It needs what’s described as a ‘massive’ property that would accommodate a 14,000 square metre building with an adjoining service station.

That’s not all – the site also will need to accommodate parking for 800 or more vehicles.

Costco, which has more than 550 stores, made its Australian debut in Melbourne a decade ago.

The group opened in Queensland, at Brisbane suburb North Lakes, in 2014 and has just opened a 13,000sqm-plus warehouse at Ipswich.

Costco is believed to have sniffed around a large Reedy Creek site quite some time ago but perhaps was scared off by the $35 million asking price.