Costco, Ikea, Zara, H&M reveal Geelong plans

Major retailers have spoken out about their plans for Geelong as the region faces unprecedented growth.

Costco in Sydney. (AAP Image/Keri Megelus)

Major retailers have revealed where they stand on expanding into Geelong as the region faces unprecedented growth.

As Costco explores a local bid, experts and advocates have spruiked the benefits of trading in the region.

A spokeswoman for Costco confirmed while the big chain was still interested in the region, a site for the potential store was yet to be chosen.

The US-based retail giant last year announced it was mulling over a local expansion amid Australian booming business.

“We are working on other locations around the country, and we will definitely get more in the Sydney market,” Costco Australia boss told News Corp last month.

“We are still looking for one in the Geelong (regional Victoria) area as well as southeast of Melbourne in suburbs such as Pakenham, Officer, which are very attractive areas for us.”

Ludmila Amim, Store Manager at LUSH, Victoria Station. Pic – Britta Campion. Story: Lucy Carne

Councillor Eddy Kontelj said any big chain could get better return on their investment for the store size they’d be able to lease in Geelong.

“On any given day we’re one of the fastest growing regional cities in the county,” he said.

“I can see parts of Geelong mimicking the Champs-Élysées in Paris where you have amazing high-end retailers like Zara, Gucci or the likes of David Jones.

Greater Geelong’s settlement strategy revealed the city could be on track to hit 500,000 residents in 2047, and one million by 2075.

“Why not bring a Costco into the CBD into a venue like market square? Big anchor tenants like that attract supportive businesses around them,” Mr Kontelj said.

Werribee, on Melbourne’s western fringe, has fared better in attracting large scale retail.

The growing suburb is home to in-demand retailers such as H&M, Starbucks, Lush and Daiso.

The Wyndham council area has a population of 296,000 people compared to Greater Geelong’s 265,000.

Other parts of regional Australia have also experienced better luck with big stores, with Ipswich now home to a Costco and Starbucks opening a new storefront on Ballarat’s fringe.

Ipswich, near Brisbane, is home to about 233,000 residents while Ballarat had 116,201 residents at the 2021 census.

David Jones has also expanded out of Sydney in NSW, with locations in Wollongong and Newcastle.

The Addy approached popular retail chains Zara, H&M, Ikea, Lush, David Jones, Sephora to quiz them about any potential regional moves.

An Ikea spokeswoman thanked Geelong residents for their interest.

“We have no plans to bring an Ikea store to the Geelong area at this stage,” she said.

“We are pleased to offer a convenient collection point for our customers in the Geelong area for pick up of Ikea orders placed online close to home.”

Sentiments were echoed by David Jones, Starbucks and Lush representatives, who confirmed they would keep Geelong in mind for any pop-up store locations.

The remaining retailers did not comment.

Costco would be the latest retail chain to announce expansion plans in the region.

Harvey Norman last year revealed plans for a third Geelong store at Leopold, while beauty giant Mecca arrived in the city centre in late 2021.

Deakin University’s Dr Michael Callaghan said though movement was dependent on retail markets and the type of outlet, population shifts could force big chains to look outside the cities.

“A lot of people with high-disposable incomes looked to tree-changes and sea-changes and actually moved further away from Melbourne,” he said.

“There has been a drift in customers with deep pockets away from Melbourne. It’d be a simple answer for big retailers to look at where the population is drifting.”

Dr Callaghan said Geelong was also well-positioned on a busy road and rail network to bring customers in from regional areas.

“Geelong has advantages over other population centres like Ballarat and Bendigo in that it's a regional hub for all of the southwest,” he said.

“Whilst it’s true there are a lot of travellers going through those cities, the number of people likely to go through those towns to shop is a lot less than those that are more inclined to head towards Geelong on the way to Melbourne.”

Originally published as Costco, Ikea, Zara, H&M reveal Geelong plans