Site-seeing and Learning about Auckland Large Format Retail
On 4th February 2020, almost 100 Large Format Retailers from Australia and New Zealand embarked on the Large Format Retail Association’s first Study Tour of the year.
New Zealand is expected to reach a population of 5 million later this year, with almost a third (1.6 million) currently residing in Auckland.
The LFRA Study Tour provides an opportunity for members and alike to network, share ideas and learn from the latest designs, developments and operations they have encountered on the trip.
Wairau Park Precinct
The Wairau Park precinct was developed in the late 1990s and has a profound history. It is home to New Zealand’s first Harvey Norman store, and one of the first Spotlight and Freedom stores.
Its retail tenant mix caters to a range of customer needs, with a collection of homeware, sporting, electronics and furniture brands at Wairau Park. Bunnings Warehouse and Mitre 10 Mega are clustered together, and unlike in Australia Mitre 10 in New Zealand is orange, not blue!
Car dealerships including Toyota, Mazda, Isuzu, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan and Mercedes Benz are located adjacent to the Large Format Retail precinct.
Wairau Park is very much an industrial area, with no design cohesion, but is functional. It caters to the surrounding northern suburbs of Auckland, with all major Large Format Retail brands having a store at Wairau Park.
Silverdale Centre
35 minutes north of Wairau Park is the Silverdale Centre, the first comprehensive retail centre in the region.
This 22,715 m2 Large Format Retail centre is designed to service approximately 50,000 people in the wider catchment of Silverdale, Dairy Flat, Millwater, Orewa and Whangaporoa. It is a highly sought-after space with 30,000 new homes being built nearby across the motorway.
Stores form an L-shape surrounding a carpark of 980 spaces and includes a mix of fashion, food, health and beauty, homewares stores. The two major anchor tenants are The Warehouse and Countdown (the New Zealand version of Woolworths).
The Warehouse, locally known as ‘Red Sheds’, is the main brand in New Zealand’s largest retail group – The Warehouse Group. The Warehouse Group consists of 4 brands: The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery (specialising in office products and stationery, similar to Officeworks), Noel Leeming (specialising in consumer electronics and small appliances, similar to Harvey Norman or JB HI-Fi) and Torpedo7 (specialising in outdoor adventure equipment, similar to Anaconda).
Silverdale Centre was developed by The Warehouse Group in 2012 and is currently owned and managed by Stride Property since 2013.
Albany Mega Centre
Albany Mega Centre is located 17km north west of Auckland CBD, which is approximately a 15 – 20 minute drive.
Albany Mega Centre features 25 stores with a retail mix of electronics, homewares, sporting and apparel. Brands include Adairs, Spotlight, The Warehouse, Rebel Sport, Lighting Direct, Briscoes (a leading New Zealand homeware brand) and Macpac.
The Centre is approximately 34,000 m2 with over 1,300 car spaces and an electric vehicle charging station. Many LFRA members were impressed that the car park was almost full on a Tuesday morning.
The Albany Mega Centre is popular, and offers convenience with multiple entrances and exits, food and beverage options and an attached cinema.
Westgate Lifestyle
Westgate Lifestyle is located off the north-western motorway in Auckland. The centre offers 28 home and living Large Format Retail stores, catering to expected residential growth of 30,000 people in the surrounding region.
The expected population boom will come off the back of the New Zealand Government loaning Auckland Council $300 million to fund the construction of thousands of homes, five road and five water projects designated by the council as “…priority, fast track-initiatives…”.
2020 will see the completion of a new Bunnings Westgate and the expansion of the existing Mitre 10 with both stores being set to be their brand’s largest store in New Zealand.
In mid-2019 Costco announced that it will open its first New Zealand store in Westgate. Westgate Costco will be approximately 14,000 m2 and provide more than 800 carparks across two levels.
With an expected opening in 2021 Costco Westgate will offer the full offering of a Costco petrol station, tyre centre, food court, optometrist, hearing aid services, groceries and homewares.
Westgate is becoming one of the preeminent Large Format Retailing locations in the region. Westgate Lifestyle is 25,607 m2 and is an inviting retail centre with clear, bright and modern signage., Anchor tenants include Harvey Norman, Freedom, Briscoes and Rebel Sport.
Sylvia Park Lifestyle
Sylvia Park Lifestyle is located near Auckland’s Southern Motorway, Mt Wellington Highway and South-East Highway with an estimated 250,000 cars passing each day.
Sylvia Park Lifestyle forms part of the broader Sylvia Park mixed-use community and provides customers with a broad, complementary and compelling retail offer.
Kiwi Property informed LFRA members that the total trade area retail spend was $5.38 billion, with an estimated spend of $1.96 billion on food retail, $1.22 billion on homewares, $615 million on food catering, $465 million at department stores, $358 million on apparel and $185 million on leisure.
The main trade area had a primary population of 65,400 with a secondary customer base of 521,600 with the accessibility of the three motorways.
The 16,550 m2 centre was built in 2011 and is home to 16 Large Format Retail stores over two levels, providing customers with a broad, complementary and compelling retail offer. Anchor tenants include Spotlight, Torpedo 7 and Freedom.
Mt Wellington Highway Large Format Retail
Mount Wellington is a suburb in East Auckland, 10 kilometres southeast of the city centre. It is home to the largest Briscoes and Rebel Sport stores in New Zealand, and the first Nick Scali in the country.
The main attraction of this Mt Wellington Highway site is the Harvey Norman store. It presents customers the full offering of bedding, furniture, kitchenware and homeware, electrical and computers.
Clear walkways within the store allow customers to leisurely browse the extensive range of products Harvey Norman has to offer.
Manukau Supa Centa
The final destination of the Auckland Study Tour was the Manukau Supa Centa, one of New Zealand’s first proper master planned Large Format Retail centres.
Similar to other Large Format Retail centres, Manukau Supa Centa has an assorted retail mix. Brands range from various specialities including fashion, furniture, bedding, electronics, and sporting goods.
Harvey Norman is the largest tenant with a store over 10,000 m2. Other familiar Large Format Retail brands at Manukau Supa Centa include Warehouse Stationery, Briscoes, Noel Leeming and Rebel Sports.
Manukau Supa Centa is the largest homemaker centre in Auckland by floor area of approximately 47,000m2 with an incredible 1,643 car spaces.
Convenience and accessibility were common key factors of success of each Large Format Retail destination on the 2020 Auckland Study Tour. The tour reinforced the importance of finding the right retail mix, so the centre can effectively serve its catchment area. Each site was also well-established in the local area and a community hub.
