Building street-cred into retail environments

AN ability to deliver the right products in the right environment is an essential component in the ever-competitive retail world.

And picking trends ahead of time is a sure way to stay ahead of the competition.

Among the developing areas of retail is the shift in consumer demand away from big enclosed ‘box’ shopping centres to more of an outdoor main street environ-ment.

This development is taking shape for the first time in Western Australia at Ellenbrook, with construction of a main street shopping strip under way and to be completed by next year.

Further, several existing shopping centres, including Whitfords City and Carousel, have made modifications to incorporate a main street concept into their buildings.

Urban planner Roberts Day is behind the Ellenbrook concept, which principal Tim Trefry said was based on research undertaken on Rockeby Road, Subiaco, and Beaufort Street in Mt Lawley.

“The demand for main street shopping centres is coming from both the community and retailers,” Mr Trefry told WA Business News.

“More than 50 per cent of households in the Perth metropolitan region do not have children, which suggests a growing market for flexible, denser, more urban environments that adults find interesting.

“Retailers are also wanting to locate back on a main street for reasons like flexible opening hours, lower rent, capturing the ‘lifestyle aspirations’ of the community, being in  a more attractive environment, and being among the theatre of people.

“Major chain stores are adopting flexible designs to integrate with these environments too.

“The old model of getting cars funnelled into massive centres through distributor roads is becoming less popular.

Not all of Ellenbrook’s shopping facilities will be on the main street, however, with a hybrid shopping centre containing Woolworths as an anchor tenant off the main street.

“Certainly, with Perth’s climate, if you don’t offer air-conditioning, people won’t be there,” Mr Trefry said. “People will be watching the Ellenbrook model from around the country and around the world to monitor its success.”

Cameron Chisholm and Nicol director Dominic Snellgrove said there was an enormous shift in shopping centre design, and new centres were increasingly integrating into an urban context.

“New shopping centres will break into communities, and existing shopping centres are being extended and developed to incorporate an urban element,” Mr Snellgrove said.

“The amount of time people spend at shopping centres has decreased in the last five or six years – people are bored with the old model.

“If having to create a new environment helps retailers attract consumers, it will be a powerful force for change.”

The Perron Group owns several suburban shopping centres, and asset manager Peter Polini said the group was constantly reviewing properties.

“I believe that the urban context is the direction that some retail is heading in, but not all of it,” Mr Polini said.

“Although that may be the way some people want to go, you need to have a regard for the population density and climate in Perth.

“You can create an urban design in an internal environment.”

HOUSEHOLD MAKE-UP

Source: Roberts Day Town Planning and Design