Glenferrie Rd, Malvern Italian eateries increase with 888 Pizza to open fifth Melbourne store
A taste of Italy is starting to emerge on a well-known shopping hub in Melbourne’s inner east, with a growing pizza chain the latest big name coming to town.
Inner East
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The Malvern end of bustling Glenferrie Rd is getting a growing taste of Italy with new restaurants specialising in Mediterranean cuisine setting up shop.
Takeaway chain Pizza 888 will open its fifth Melbourne store at 198 Glenferrie Rd later this month after it signed a five-year lease at the site.
The business negotiated the deal with real estate firm Fitzroys and will fork out $54,000 in rent per year for the 100sq m space.
Fitzroys agent James Lockwood said the space would have minimal seating and suit Pizza 888’s takeaway services and collections by delivery services such as UberEats and Deliveroo.
Mr Lockwood said the sale represented a growing trend in the hospitality sector with operators shifting from restaurant-sized spaces to smaller one ones able to better cater for a growing takeaway market, particularly following the coronavirus outbreak.
“People want to be served quickly and more operators are looking to meet and best these expectations in recent months,” he said.
“Smaller spaces allow operators to maintain a presence in the market without necessarily having to commit to extensive fit-outs or higher rents for larger spaces.”
Mr Lockwood said the Pizza 888 deal was negotiated above the market rate, and operators were increasingly looking for opportunities to adapt to the changing environment, which was a positive sign for the real estate sector.
He said an Italian flavour was starting to emerge on the Malvern strip with an ice-cream store — ScoopyDoo Gelato — opening at 225 Glenferrie Rd recently,
Mr Lockwood said another Italian restaurant had also signed a lease for 99 Glenferrie Rd.
“Malvern and the surrounding suburbs offer an established and affluent catchment that is
one of the most enviable in Melbourne,” he said.
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