Retail rejig in Karrinyup in Perth sets fashionable trend

After an $800m redevelopment, Karrinyup shopping centre, in Perth’s north, is ready to become a fully integrated retail, entertainment and lifestyle destination.

New creations to be revealed at the Karrinyup redevelopment in Perth. Picture: Jillian McHugh

After three years in the making, the jewel in Perth’s retail crown is ready to shine.

Karrinyup shopping centre, in the city’s northern coastal suburbs, has been undergoing an $800m redevelopment to become a fully integrated retail, entertainment and lifestyle destination.

The doubling down on retail goes against the trend of recent years when Australians went online for shopping. While Western Australia remains Covid-free, it comes against a national backdrop of large malls struggling to deal with the fallout of the coronavirus crisis.

Long lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne have battered the industry.

But Karrinyup manager AMP Capital, on behalf of owner UniSuper, says the massive development – which will see the mall virtually double in size – is all about backing retail.

“We’ve tried to make it a quantum leap into the future,” Scott Nugent, AMP Capital’s investment and development manager in WA, tells The Australian.

The centre is reopening in stages, with fresh food and youth fashion already open, the main fashion stage, The Loop, opening on Thursday, and the final entertainment stage in a month’s time.

Remarkably, taking the pandemic into consideration, the centre will be finished on time, which Nugent considers “nothing short of a miracle”.

“It’s been very challenging. The team doing this development has had so many things to overcome, even getting fixtures and fittings,” he says.

“We’ve been tracking boats on the ocean because the supply lines have been interrupted around the world.”

Models Paris Newman in Scanlan Theodore (green), and Shudia Forgol in Morrison. Picture: Jillian McHugh

ModelJackson Pearcey in Calibre at the Karrinyup redevelopment in Perth. Picture: Jillian McHugh

The shopping centre has been a fixture in Perth since 1973, but Nugent says size restrictions on shopping centres in the state stymied what was possible.

When these were lifted in 2010, the plan to revamp the centre was hatched, and it has been designed and executed by an all-West Australian team.

The centre has now almost doubled in size to 109,000sq m.

“We’ve never had any fresh food and entertainment. It completely changes everything the centre’s doing.

There will be a number of additional attractions, including an “elevated service level”, valet parking, styling suites, and even the state’s first Tesla charging stations in the carpark.

“You can literally come to the centre all day. Dump the car at the valet, shop, your parcels can be put in the car, you can go to lunch, go to the movies, from opening to close.”

Four residential towers will eventually be included in the redevelopment, with 350 apartments.

The first tower is being built and will open in early 2023, with most of the units already sold.

Within the fashion offering, over 40 Australian and international brands will be opening, including Camilla, Morrison, Aje, Bec & Bridge, Polo Ralph Lauren and Scotch & Soda. The centre will house the first Sephora in the state, and the Zara store will be the first in Australia of the new generation of fit-outs for the Spanish retailer.

This will be the largest collection of Australian designers under one roof in the state.

To mark the occasion, 20 brands, including US labels Coach and Tommy Hilfiger, have collaborated with the centre in creating one-off looks inspired by the coastal location and “unique energy” of Western Australia.

These will be unveiled in its Taste of Fashion VIP and customer events this week.

Kylie Radford of Morrison took up the challenge, creating “a bit of a showstopper”, in a palm print cotton voile that features in this season’s collection.

“There is nothing like it in Perth,” says Radford.

Glynis Traill-Nash will host the VIP Taste of Fashion event on Wednesday.