In the past week I’ve read 2 articles about the state of
retail in Brisbane. They referred to my local area of Wynnum and how retailing
is dying. There’s absolutely no denying that retail is tough at the moment.
That’s a given.
However these articles made heavy mention of the
observations of the reporter walking around the streets during school holidays.
He mentioned that tumble weeds would not be out of place as it was dead. Hello…
first clue is the school holiday timing. Immediately alarm bells rang for me which
suggested that perhaps we weren’t getting the most accurate observation.
Just as 2:45pm on a weekday is the best time to jag a front
door carpark at your local Westfield (in case you aren’t aware- all the mums
are in the school pick up que and not at the shops), school holidays in the
streets of the local burbs are not the best indicator of general retail
conditions. Given that it’s the first of the warm weather holiday periods-
September, heaps of people have gone away or are doing summery types of things
like day trips to the coasts etc.
Let’s do a quick teleport up to Hastings Street Noosa at the
same time period. I know that street would have been humming as it’s a premium holiday
destination. And yes, I’m sure that Hastings St’s overall retail stats have
dropped. However the past 2 weeks there would have looked very different to
their normal Monday to Friday pre school holidays.
The point I’m making is that if you want to gauge a
situation accurately look at it under normal conditions not in an extreme
condition.
The article followed on with a couple of retail experts
offering their opinion of retail in the future for the burbs. They cited that
foodies and gyms will become more popular. Yes, we are seeing the rise of both
of those industries filling retail tenancies. However the other thing I’m
noticing is a glut of residential apartments being constructed in the burbs.
Like or loathe them they will eventually fill with residents and with that will
come the demand for more local retail and it won’t just be for foodies and
gyms. People will want other types of retail.
After nearly 30yrs in the retail industry I’ve now seen the
circle and it’s now coming around again.
