Last Thursday evening, October 28, was an exciting evening for retail, both luxury and commercial brands. With unveilings hotly anticipated by many, the MO Down followed happenings in Sydney and in Melbourne. In Sydney, the Westfield Sydney project held its first stage opening. First to market brands opened their doors to a very excited crowd, in a very prestigious location– the centre spans an area between the Pitt St Mall, George St, Market St and Castlereagh St. Right under the landmark Centrepoint tower and directly between Sydney’s two major department stores (David Jones and Myer), it really couldn’t be in a better location if it tried.
This has been a huge project from the get-go, physically and financially, and first look in, we’re impressed! The mix of brands, the flow of the levels and the finishes to the floor and ceiling are impressive. And it’s only stage one. The centre should be complete by 2012. It is then expected to generate over $600 million a year in sales. Perhaps as a result of all the excitement, shares in Westfield Group rose 2.38 per cent on October 29.
Just goes to show Sydney’s voracious appetite for brands. Despite Sydney’s limited critical population mass, when compared to other key global bullet point cities, the demand is certainly being confidently anticipated by Westfield with this development.
In Melbourne, we also had a new larger footprint and new look Louis Vuitton boutique open in Crown Casino in Southbank. When Louis Vuitton opened in November last year in Chadstone, it took the number of Louis Vuitton retail spaces in Melbourne to three, which is significant. With the revamp of Crown it adds more square metres of selling space for a larger variety of product to be shown.
GFC anyone? Seems like a distant memory, long may this continue!
Image credit: blog.imff.com.au
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