Myer NT: Which retailers you’d like in the Territory?

In the age of online shopping and easy home delivery from almost anywhere, which outlets do Territorians really want to see in our shopping centres?

NT NEWS readers have delivered their verdict on which southern shops they want transplanted into the Territory – and retailers such as Myer and David Jones are among the least popular picks.

The poll was taken last week after Myer indicated they would not be setting up shop in Darwin any time soon.

New owner of Casuarina Square shopping centre Warren Ebert prompted debate when he said old-fashioned department stores were no longer sustainable.

Former Chief Minister Shane Stone said Myer had refused to open a bricks-and-mortar outlet in the Territory for years on the strength of catalogue sales.

As it turns out, Territorians in the new millennium don’t want a bar of Myer.

Only 4 per cent of the almost 200 votes polled favoured Myer moving to the Territory.

The Bendigo-born retailer was equal with Hoyts Cinema and narrowly ahead of David Jones with 3 per cent.

Donut legends Krispy Kreme – who have promised to open a Darwin outlet – were next with 5 per cent and American bulk-buy outlet Costco polled 8 per cent.

The bronze medal goes to Swedish box-furniture seller IKEA at 19 per cent and German discount supermarket chain Aldi scores the silver with 21 per cent of votes polled.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the hot climate and parched environment, liquor supermarket Dan Murphy’s topped the podium with a whopping 36 per cent of respondents favouring the outlet setting up in the NT.

Darwin drinkers were tantalised for several years by the prospect of Dan’s opening here but their application got off to a poor start when a senior adviser to Chief Minister Michael Gunner described the chain as “Bunnings for drunks”.

The company eventually withdrew its application in 2020 after an internal review and hasn’t

been heard of since.

EARLIER: A FORMER Chief Minister has revealed the real reason popular retailer Myer has never established a store in Darwin.

Shane Stone, who was Chief Minister from 1995 to 1999, said conversations with Government officials and Myer chiefs trying to lure a store to Darwin usually met with the same response.

“’We do so well with our catalogue sales, why would we build a store’? was the standard response when we held discussions,” Mr Stone said.

“Darwin was Myer’s largest market for sales from the catalogue and there was no reason for them to change that model. They said it to me, they said it to (his predecessor Marshall) Perron. They didn’t want to change that.”

Almost 30 years later and in the age of pick-and-click on-line shopping, the trend is still likely to be the case.THE retail dreams of generations of shopping enthusiasts hang in the balance as the prospects of a Myer or David Jones-style department store establishing here appear to slip away.

The vision of Myer setting-up in Darwin has sustained southern ex-pats for decades but in the pick-and-click 21st century digital retail world, a Darwin branch now appears out of the question.

Warren Ebert, Casuarina Square’s new owner, said a major department store is welcome to establish in the Territory’s biggest shopping centre but Territorians should not hold their breath.

“If Myer wants to come it’s welcome but it’s not realistic. That’s a different model,” Mr Ebert said.

“In 1985 in the United States, 15 cents in every retail dollar spent went to the department stores, now it’s three cents in every dollar,” he said. “They just don’t work.

“If you have a look around Australia and the shopping centres that have sold in the past 12 months such as Clifford Gardens in Toowoomba for $145m or Mt Pleasant in McKay for $162m or at Wollongong for $300m, none of those centres had a department store.

“So Department stores are what is holding big centres back. Centres that have real troubles have a department store.

“Big centres will now spend millions of dollars on food courts or entertainment but people aren’t going there for department stores. The more department stores you have the more problems you have.”

In the long-term Mr Ebert has committed to a complete transformation of Casuarina Square, including development of housing precincts for workers, students and seniors and it’s transformation into a town centre.

“For Darwin to grow, Casuarina Square must also grow as both a retail centre and an employment node,” he said after announcing its purchase in January.

“I am confident this will be a billion-dollar asset within 7-10 years. Casuarina Square is a magnet for the population in Darwin because they can shop in 5.5ha of air-conditioned comfort.

“It’s a fantastic asset which will deliver substantial returns to our investors.”

With more than 190 stores and retailers, including Kmart, Big W, Woolworths and Coles as well as a seven-screen Birch Carroll and Coyle Cinema, Casuarina Square was built to provide the most comfortable shopping experience in the Northern Territory. The Centre has been serving the Darwin community since 1973.

In the 2000s, hopes for a Myer in Darwin soared when former Labor Party senator Trish Crossin campaigned around bringing the chain here.

Myer also indicated Darwin was on a list of potential store locations, but the 2009 global financial crisis curbed its enthusiasm.

A Myer spokesperson confirmed the retailer is not headed this way soon.

“Although we have no current plans to open a physical Myer store in Darwin, our online store at myer.com.au is available to our Darwin customers 24/7 across our full range,” he said.