Commercial Bay targeting the needs of an intensified Auckland CBD

Thursday, 22 August 2019

Commercial Bay will include a number of boutique retail stores.

A mini-supermarket, boutique bakery and high-end Italian leather store will be occupying neighbouring territory in Auckland's new shopping centre.

Commercial Bay, scheduled to open in March 2020, has been adding to the roster of stores and restaurants that will feature in a massive mixed use development.

While construction delays have pushed the scheduled opening back six months, once its opened the development in the city centre will include a 39,000sqm office tower and 18,000sqm of retail space.

In May, property investor Precinct confirmed the opening of the retail centre had been put back six months to March 2020 from September 2019, and the opening of the PwC Tower would be delayed until April 2020 from a previous scheduled December 2019 opening.

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Precinct chief executive Scott Pritchard said the delays could cost the company up to another $10 million taking the total office and retail development to $700m.

But they haven't dampened the enthusiasm of some of the shopping centre's new tennants.

Karla Goodwin started Bluebell's Cakery with Ryan Sharma in 2011 after being inspired by the array of beautifully decorated cakes she saw in the UK. Bluebell's new flagship store will be in Commercial Bay.

Ryan Sharma, who co-founded Bluebells Cakery with Karla Goodwins in 2011, said opening in Commercial Bay was an opportunity to bring the cake store to a wider audience.

Bluebells will open next door to Swedish clothing retailer H&M on the ground floor of Commercial Bay.

'We have been really looking for an opportunity to get into the CBD for three or four years,' Sharma said.

'When we were offered Commercial Bay, it really stuck out as the right opportunity to dive in to.'

Bluebells already had a strong customer base with corporate catering, and the downtown location would become Bluebells' flagship store.

The Auckland city centre population is increasing.

The cake store will also be offering high tea as a draw card for business meetings and weekend shoppers.

Sharma said there had been some wariness over entering the mall setting, however, Commercial Bay was offering something entirely different.

'Our branding is very much not suited to a mall. We were offered the mall-type setting upstairs within the food hall but originally we said no as it didn't fit our brand. But then they came back offered the space on the ground floor.'

Sharma said the new location was more like a Melbourne laneway than a shopping centre space.

Chris Wilkinson, managing director of First Retail Group, said there were a number of dynamics that would pull people into the city centre and towards Commercial Bay.

'The city centre is becoming more and more populated,' Wilkinson said.

'There will be 10,000 people in the block where Commercial Bay is. Then, if you think further along the waterfront there is another 10,000 people in the Wyndham Quarter. You have an intense, highly paid and aspirational audience in that area to support the day time economy.'

Cruise ships would also feed directly into the new shopping precinct.

The city has evolved and retail hubs needed to keep up, Wilkinson said.

On August 9, Countdown announced it would open it's first Metro store as part of the Commercial Bay development.

Set to open in December, the Metro Countdown will offer kombucha and cold brew coffee on tap, takeaway coffees, and a range of food-to-go options for breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner which will change throughout the day. The store will also stock pantry staples.

Brett Ashley, general manager of operations at Countdown, said a new model of supermarket was inevitable considering the changing shopping behaviours of Kiwis.

'Our shopping habits have changed, we no longer do one big shop a week,' he said.

'It's not unusual for us visiting the store several times a week. We're also incredibly time poor, so quick and easy meals are what we are searching out to save us more time.'

Ashley said customer researched had revealed that 70 per cent of those surveyed in the city centre wanted greater access to fresh fruit and vegetables.

The survey also showed 65 per cent wanted to buy hot lunch meals to takeaway.

Traditional supermarkets also required significant plots of land, he said said.

'It's difficult to find sites that can accommodate a perfect rectangular supermarket within the city centre. This means you need to rethink what you want to offer your city customers within a smaller format.'