A retail of two cities: How Auckland and Wellington shop

Saturday, 20 September 2025

Courtenay Places’s retail footprint was hospitality venues with not a fashion store in sight, leaving it a “fashion retail desert” according to Ray White Group Head of research Vanessa Rader.

The transformational Golden Mile project has started but will it benefit retailers or just make it harder for shops to survive?

Vanessa Rader, head of research at Ray White Group and an expert property market commentator based in Sydney, thinks it might be a risky strategy to count on shoppers coming back if they are put off by the disruption.

Last month Rader looked at the central business district recoveries of Australia’s six major cities. So on a recent trip to New Zealand, she took the chance to look at Wellington and Auckland, walking the streets taking notes.

For Rader, Wellington’s transformation of the Golden Mile has some risks - especially around the length of time it is going to take and the disruption it will cause.

And it might not be worth it if we can’t get people into the city at all.

“You need to get people in there, not just shoppers but all demographics, like families.”

Ray White Group head of research Vanessa Rader wandered the retail sectors of Wellington and Auckland and thinks the Golden Mile project might drive shoppers away.

Things like having to pay for parking on the weekend (she thought the cost of our parking was very high) and cutting cars out of the central city would just drive shoppers to the malls in our closest cities.

She also wondered why people would brave the construction and parking issues when a trip to places like Lower Hutt’s Queensgate had free parking, entertainment for kids and a contained food court.

There’s been plenty of talk about revitalising Wellington — cleaning up the city and bringing business back — as weekly headlines chart the closure of stores and hospitality venues across the country.

Food v Jewels - the differences in the Auckland/Wellington retail markets in their CBDs from Ray White Group head of research Vanessa Rader.

Recently reports from Vision for Wellington and the Wellington Chamber of Commerce ihighlight how business needed to be supported.

Rader took a look at the differences between Wellington and Auckland’s retail in the central business districts.

“Wellington has a bit of a mishmash of retail,” Rader said.

Lambton Quay is the home of fashion retailing in Wellington with over 31% of tenancies being clothing and soft furnishings.

She found our two biggest CBDs were experiencing markedly different retail trajectories, with Auckland capitalising on luxury growth and infrastructure investment while Wellington attempted to revitalise its struggling Golden Mile through a controversial $139.4 million transformation project.

“Auckland and Wellington reveal distinctly different retail personalities through their tenant compositions and geographic distribution. Food retailing collectively represents 27.2% of Auckland's CBD tenancies compared to Wellington's significantly higher 38.4%.”

She said however, Wellington's challenge lay not just in food dominance but in its extreme geographic segregation across the Golden Mile corridor.

Wellington

Willis St had a strong fashion representation at 32.2% clothing coverage but food retailing increased to 18.6%.

Rader said Wellington's retail composition varied dramatically street by street, creating distinct precinct characteristics.

“Lambton Quay functions as Wellington's fashion retail anchor, with clothing and soft goods representing 31.5% of tenancies, actually exceeding Auckland's 21.0% clothing representation. “

Combined food retailing was moderate at 22.8%, creating a balanced environment that attracted quality clothing retailers and maintained reasonable vacancy at 8.7%.

However, she said retail quality deteriorated markedly going southward through the Golden Mile. Willis St maintained strong fashion representation at 32.2% clothing coverage but food retailing increased to 18.6% while vacancy stayed manageable at 6.8%.

Auckland’s Queen St features international high end luxury brands at the rate of 20 times more than Wellington.

But heading into a “dingy” Manners St clothing dropped to just 10.7% with the nearby Cuba Street Mall the place to go for a new outfit while food retailing rose to 28% and vacancy spiked at 18.7%.

Rader said Courtenay Place, which she called a fashion retail desert, completed the geographic decline with zero clothing retailers and food retailing dominating at 75.7% of all tenancies.

“This extreme hospitality concentration creates an unbalanced evening-economy focus that eliminates daytime retail appeal. Despite entertainment precinct activation, vacancy remains elevated at 12.2%.”

Rader said Wellington’s geographic segregation was compounded by significant development gaps.

“The Reading Cinemas site exemplifies the challenge, abandoned since 2019 due to earthquake risks, creating a major dead zone in Courtenay Place's retail frontage. Its recent publicised purchase promises redevelopment with enhanced retail and dining options within a short timeframe as such prolonged dormancy affects the entire strip’s momentum.”

Auckland

Auckland meanwhile had a more balanced geographic distribution.

“Personal and household goods represent 14.9% of Auckland tenancies, primarily driven by jewellery retailers capitalising on luxury market demand. Wellington's equivalent sector represents just 6% overall, with concentration varying dramatically by street.”

She said overall however, vacancy rates appeared deceptively similar, Auckland at 12.7% v Wellington's 11.3%, but reflected fundamentally different market conditions.

Auckland's vacancies occurred amid active luxury retail expansion and infrastructure development, suggesting healthy market churn as premium retailers upgraded locations, Rader said.

Wellington's marginally lower vacancy masked a more challenging reality where many assets had been withdrawn from active retail use for redevelopment, creating black spots along key retail strips rather than registering as traditional vacancies.

Rader said the most striking difference was in luxury retail.

Auckland commanded 11.6% luxury representation compared to Wellington's minimal 0.6%, nearly a twenty-fold difference establishing Auckland as the country’s undisputed luxury retail capital.

“The southern end of Queen St, anchored by the world-class Commercial Bay property development, has been instrumental in evolving the precinct into a premium destination that attracts international luxury brands and creates critical mass for high-end retail. This luxury quarter benefits from quality infrastructure, contemporary architecture, and concentrated foot traffic that supports premium retail operations. The northern end maintains a more traditional retail mix with various asset quality grades, but benefits from proximity to this established luxury precinct.”

The Labubu craze has made other luxury brands consider the experiences people have in their stores and how to react to social media trends.

She said Auckland's luxury success attracted contemporary retail concepts not seen in Wellington.

“The city hosts experiential retail like PopMart, the collectible toy phenomenon driving social media engagement and queue-building excitement among younger demographics. This viral retail presence demonstrates Auckland's magnetic appeal for contemporary retail innovation, contrasting sharply with Wellington's absence of trending retail formats.”

There were some things Wellington could do. Like lean into each sector as its own identity - fashion on Lambton Quay, Willis St and Cuba the fun cool more alternative shops then Courtenay Place as entertainment hub.

Courtenay Pl had all hospitality venues and not a fashion store in sight but needed a cleanup, Retail NZ’s Carolyn Young said.

But at the moment it was muddled.

“Even Lambton Quay, Wellington's premium retail street, cannot match Auckland's luxury concentration, while the remainder of the Golden Mile offers no luxury retail presence whatsoever.”

Despite the cost of living crisis, in August Rader wrote about how luxury goods were driving growth in Australia’s major cities, showing that social media hype and stores that were also “experiences” were making a difference.

“The social media influence on luxury retail cannot be overstated, with brands increasingly embracing viral culture to capture younger demographics. Louis Vuitton’s recent launch of bag charms, was a direct response to the Labubu craze that has swept luxury markets. This strategic move demonstrates how established luxury houses were adapting to social media trends while maintaining their premium positioning.”

It’s happened in Auckland but Wellington has fallen far behind.

Retail NZ’s Carolyn Young said the Golden Mile project had been championed by Wellington’s current - but outgoing - mayor and none of those standing were supportive.

“We know from things like the Thorndon Quay cycle lane construction that there is an effect on businesses. ”

That is not to say a good tidy up wasn’t needed, especially on Courtenay Place.

But Young agreed a project spanning years could decimate retailers. Shoppers formed habits and there was a risk that they might not come back if they begin staying away

“Some retailers in Lambton Quay and Willis St have already made decisions on whether to stay or go based on the project,” Young said.

“There was a time you never saw empty stores in Lambton Quay and now some have been there a while.”

Shehoped to see some realistic thinking after the election about the Golden Mile project.