Church St shopping strip in Brighton considered one of the best in Victoria

MELBOURNE’S love affair with mega malls has left shopping strips reeling, but this blue-chip strip has bucked the trend with its vacancy rate at an all-time low of zero.

Church Street, Brighton, is considered on of the state’s leading shopping strips.

BRIGHTON’S Church St has been lauded as one of the best shopping strips in the state.

And the vacancy rate data for the blue-chip strip — a key factor highlighting businesses wanting to move into an area — is at an all-time low of zero.

Fitzroys recently sold 83 Church St for more than $3 million at a fiercely fought auction attended by more than 100 people.

Director Mark Talbot said the street was “widely considered to be Melbourne’s best-performing retail strip”.

Melbourne’s shopping centres: The good, the bad and handy tips

Melbourne's 25 best shopping secrets

He said it was a thriving shopping area including most of Australia’s new and established fashion operators that had just one vacant shop, which was currently under offer.

The street has a good mix of shops and is highly sought after by retailers.

“Investors and owner-occupiers are capitalising on strong trading conditions and continued growth prospects of the area, while developers were looking for a chance to make their mark on Melbourne’s premier retail precinct,” he said.

Brighton Travelworld director Keiran Cromie said there were a lot of local long-term owner operators like themselves, but also a strong national brand element.

Melbourne’s shopping centres: The good, the bad and handy tips

“It is good to be part of a successful strip, especially when others in Melbourne seem to be on a downward trend,” he said.

“The street is vibrant, there is a good mix of local and chain stores, I believe the strip is highly sought after by retailers.”

While other areas are on a downward trend, Church St is thriving.

Bayside city planning and community services acting director Matt Kelleher said Church St was an “exemplary example of a successful activity centre” and had been independently verified as “one of the leading shopping strips in Victoria”.

“It possesses vibrant cafe and street dining, a quality high-end fashion precinct and a diverse selection of specialty food stores — all packed into a few blocks,” he said.

“The (low vacancy rate) is figure is a strong indicator of the success of the strip.”

He said they were working with traders on graffiti clean-up and prevention and addressing minor maintenance issues on council-owned buildings.