Big brands vie for spots as City Mall fills up

Wednesday, 13 September 2023

Cashel St in central Christchurch is running out of vacant retail space.

Beauty retailer Mecca will triple in size, Nike will open a concept store, and Glassons and Hallensteins will part ways in a reshuffle of Christchurch’s main retail precinct.

Tenants are jostling for space in the CBD, as some big brands move in, or move around, and space grows tight.

Recent arrivals in and around the City Mall have included some firsts - German footwear brand Birkenstock and European home appliance brand Miele have both opened their first South Island outlets, while Norwegian ski-wear store Helly Hansen’s store is the only one to date in New Zealand.

Other retail tenants are seeking more floor area.

In a store swap, beauty retailer Mecca will triple its space when it moves across the road into the double-storey former Glassons and Hallensteins site being refitted in the ANZ Centre.

An artist’s impression of the new fit-out for Glassons as it moves locations in central Christchurch.

Glassons is temporarily in pop-up premises at Five Lanes in the BNZ Centre. In mid-November it is due to take up the former Mecca space, which be been restyled to suit. Mecca has already closed its cosmetics counters in Ballantynes, and this space is also being refitted.

Hallensteins is in new premises next to the Augustine boutique in the next block of Cashel St, a space vacated last year when fitness wear chain Lululemon moved two doors down to double its space.

Nike will open its Christchurch concept store later this month down Cashel St, in a new building being purpose built by landlord Richard Peebles. The new Helly Hansen store is already trading alongside in the same building.

An artist’s impression of the finished Nike flagship store in Christchurch, due to open this month.

The Nike move will follow the American company’s announcement this week that it is halting online retailing in New Zealand.

Crocs now has a store in High St, and the Birkenstock store opposite has replaced the Ugg footwear outlet in the ANZ Centre. Ugg’s only South Island store now is in Queenstown, and the Australian brand is yet to say whether it will reopen in Christchurch.

The Miele showroom is the first ground floor tenant in the Spark building in Cathedral Square.

Shopping centres such as The Crossing are full.

Chris Wilkinson, managing director of retail consultancy Retail First, said while revenue was down for some retailers due to online shopping, more major brands wanted their own stores.

“The big brands want that main city representation - it’s really important to them,” Wilkinson said.

“What we are seeing in Christchurch right now is churn - retailers are looking for the best spots. It’s a constant shuffle.

“Central cities are destinations, and retailers are very aware of the regeneration of Christchurch.”

He said other brands with a potential interest in central Christchurch included British sneaker chain JD sports, and French beauty store Sephora.

Glassons chief executive April Ward says they were very confident about the central city, which was going “from strength to strength”.

Their new store would be the first of what Ward described as its “new generation” refits in New Zealand.

Lanes and street fronts are in demand from retailers.

Shae Borman, head of retail for for Birkenstock distributor Brittain Wynyard and Co, said they had been eyeing Christchurch for some time, waiting for the right spot.

The central city was “looking great” and it was the right time to launch a specialist store in Christchurch, she said.

Nick Doig, a leasing agent at commercial real estate firm Colliers, said the shifts into larger premises come as the retail precinct is getting busier.

The new Nike store being built on Cashel st.

“There are no vacancies facing onto Cashel St and few options available in the laneways,” he said.

“Demand is set to outstrip supply and retailers are eager to see development of the final two sites vacant sites in the retail precinct.”

The only vacant land in the area is the site next to the Guthrey Centre, the former McDonald’s site on Colombo St still owned by the burger chain, and a High St plot between the Huffer and Infinite Definite fashion stores.

The Carter Group has not yet announced retail tenants for its new building going up on the former Regent Theatre site in Cathedral Square, or its planned rebuild on the old Holiday Inn site on the Cashel-High corner.

Most other available stores in the central retail area are small spaces, including a handful in the BNZ Centre, the Guthrey Centre and the Mid-City Centre. The retail precinct’s other major complexes - the Crossing, Riverside and the ANZ Centre - are all full.