First look: Progress underway for luxury department store Faradays

Monday, 20 April 2026

Faradays is tight-lipped on the new-to-market retailers it has secured for its three-level department store.

A contrast of dark and light fixtures, shelving and spaces, marble counter tops and a timeless spiral staircase are some of the stand-out features of Faradays, Auckland’s newest three-level department store.

Currently under construction and expected to open its doors for the first time in July, Faradays is promising a slice of luxury - and prices affordable to the masses.

Work on the $30 million Queen St retail development is quietly ticking along - and the project has secured a string of new-to-market retailers.

First floor will house luxury fashion, VIP shopping and hospitality offerings, and ground floor will be home to an undisclosed menswear store, alongside other beauty, fragrance, childrenswear and contemporary fashion retailers, and an activation space.

The basement will have a dedicated soundbar area, and home to a range of lifestyle, streetwear, lingerie, denim and technology retailers.

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Faradays chief executive Eddie von Dadelszen told The Post 600sqm of “exquisite Italian marble” was at port awaiting clearance, and the retailer’s custom wooden flooring made by artisans in Europe was being airfreighted this week for the site.

A digital render of inside Faradays luxury department store on the first floor, viewed from valet entrance.

Significant structural progress had been made on the site, giving a real sense of how grand the staircase would be, he said.

Von Dadelszen said the calibre of the architectural design and the calibre of the store fit out and building had attracted and helped the retailer to secure an array of sought-after brands for the precinct.

Faradays will house a mix of local and international luxury brands and designers.

Names of these are expected to be revealed in May.

Von Dadelszen said there was excitement building among the team for the products and brands that would be on offer at Faradays. 'The strength of the renders has helped us secure support and contractual agreements with some of the most sought-after brands in the world, many making their New Zealand — and in several cases Australasian — market debut.

“‘With what Fearon Hay, operating at a genuinely global standard, has achieved is a very considered tension between clean modernism, rich materiality, and historic context,” he said, describing the vibe and redevelopment of the mid-Queen Street site.

'I’m confident we will open a destination of real global relevance. The space will, I believe, represent one of the most beautiful interior executions seen in this country. 131 Queen Stt is already one of the most iconic buildings in New Zealand, and we are intent on honouring that and its rich history.”

Ground floor of Faradays, inside an undisclosed menswear store.

Von Dadelszen and Constance von Dadelszen, Eddie's wife and Faradays' creative director, recently returned from a trip through the northern hemisphere, alongside its buying team, taking inspiration from major fashion capitals.

“Since returning, we have sustained a relentless schedule of meetings across UK, EU, US, and Japanese time zones — firming up opening orders, collaborations, and store-in-store contracts. We will have more than 150 brand partners for opening, ranging from globally recognised names to the genuinely niche.

The original spiral staircase inside 131 Queen Street has been reimagined in Faradays department store.

“Constance and I have worked hard to achieve a careful balance between the iconic and the unexpected, leaning into our ambition to create an exciting, experience-led destination for New Zealand.”

Faradays is producing a documentary about the making of its department store, supported in part by two local government bodies.

The store utilises the contrast of light open spaces and dark accents to ooze contemporary luxury to showcase its heritage legacy, led by Fearon Hay Architects.

Retail commentator Chris Wilkinson, managing director of First Retail Group, said Faradays new hybrid department store model, and much smaller than the traditional department store, were essentially stores within stores.

This model was more contemporary and appealed to the masses, and importantly, a viable option for the department store market.

“With these hybrid department stores, you walk in and no longer do you go into the suit department; you go into Hugo Boss, or whatever brand it is. The stores are developed by brand rather than types of categories … A much smaller, more intimate and potentially more of an experiential environment for these brands.”

Wilkinson said department stores operating in the premium space faced a tough challenge for legacy players: “They’re really struggling as discretionary spending is changing.”

Construction is underway on Faradays, expected to open in July.

Department store giant David Jones has closed a string of stores across Australia this year, amid mounting financial losses and debts.

It closed its Castle Towers and Tuggerah stores in New South Wales, and has announced more to come, after posting a $74 million loss and as owner Anchorage Capital Partners pushes on with plans to reduce its footprint.

It recently downsized stores in Bondi Junction, Burwood, and Southland.

“The premium brands, they're all struggling, and predominantly struggling because the model has changed,” Wilkinson said.

“The next level of department stores are much more reliant on brands populating via the stores. Basically the brands are paying for those spaces, and typically you’ll find those brands have got their own stores as well.”

The smaller format brand-led model Faradays was working towards had not yet been seen in the market in New Zealand.

“It'll have some iconic brands, it'll have some emerging brands, and it will likely create scalability that's most necessary for emerging brands.”

Shoppers to Queen Street are being drawn in by a growing number of luxury retailers in Auckland City Centre.

Retail remains a tough market to operate in.

Just last week Kiwi fashion designer Wynn Crawshaw announced Wynn Hamlyn would close its Commercial Bay store, and “press pause” on production of its clothes after more than a decade in the industry, citing a business structure that no longer supported his vision.

The closure is one of many involving well-known retailers in recent months, including Smiths City, EB Games and The Body Shop.

Stats NZ’s latest electronic transaction figures show spending etched up 1.3% in March, with spending on fuel up 17%.

Discretionary spending areas in apparel declined 4% in March and spending on hospitality declined 2% and spending on services remained largely flat.

However, Westpac said spending growth in the March quarter was the strongest quarter since December 2024.

Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said the retail sector was facing a significant decline, “hidden by the global fuel spike” draining household budgets.

“Every extra dollar spent on transport is a dollar lost to a local retailer,” Young said. “After several years of tough trading for retailers, many don’t have the financial reserves to weather another sustained setback.”

Wilkinson said he expected the economic outlook for the retail sector to have turned around within three years, when gains from a growing number of large retail, property and hospitaity redevelopment and investment projects underway in Auckland city centre, alongside the City Rail Link and Ports of Auckland terminals, were operational and giving more people a reason to shop and come into the city.

“All these developments are showing the trajectory of Auckland. It is a very unique market, and through that you've got that spending capacity, and a lot of aspirational young people, they are the ones that are typically big customers of this type of product - they are focused on experience and looking for inspiring environments.

“The City Rail Link will be transformational for the city because you'll find more people using that. That will then stimulate the night-time economy. It's going to stimulate hospitality during the day. Just like in London, when you hop on the tube and are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the A380 pilot who's heading out to captain that plane across the world, you'll see public transport become the way, the future there.

“Once we've got this new, reliable network that will link people through, it will become a new way of life and turbo charge the city centre.”