We’ve all heard it: 2017 is the year of the ‘retail apocalypse’, shops must adapt or they will perish. Whilst malls in America are experiencing the meltdown, in Australia it’s not quite so dramatic… more of a tremor really. But it’s spooked landlords and investors into giving the ‘retail experience’ a complete reinvention.
How did we picture the ‘retail apocalypse’ exactly? Shop assistants watching balls of tumbleweed float by whilst everyone buys at home on Amazon? Retailer-zombies roaming the streets in search of brains? The shells of empty shopping centres harbouring trendy pirate tribes à la Mad Max? Nothing so ominous – albeit, exciting – has happened.
Instead, all the big landlords such as Scentre, Vicinity Centres, Stockland, Lendlease and etc, have gone on the defensive and completely revamped their shopping centres to deliver a new and improved retail experience to their public.
“Get in loser, we’re going shopping!”
The first shopping centre in Australia was established in Chermside, Brisbane, in 1957. Two years later the first Westfield shopping town opened its doors in Blacktown, though it housed little more than 12 shops, 2 department stores, and a single supermarket. Since then, malls in Australia have multiplied and morphed constantly to keep up with the ever-changing needs of their consumers. My local Westfield must have had a face-lift at least ten times in our twenty year association and yet, in one way it’s still the same: it’s the social and economical hub of the community. The appeal of the shopping centre is that it’s remains a place where we can do everything: purchase our weekly necessities, get a job, go on dates, and catch up with friends. This design still satisfies the current retail climate and I definitely can’t see the relevance of shopping centres disappearing any time soon.
But things are disappearing and this is what sparked the initial panic. In the past year, businesses such as the ABC Shop, Dick Smith, Payless, Topshop and so on, have either gone online or vanished completely. Add to that the introduction of Netflix and Amazon in Australia, and retailers are right to start shaking. With further advances into a virtual age where our access to (and acquirement of) the latest trends is both international and instant, you’d think more of us would be home in pyjamas instead of at the shops in our latest H&M… But we still cling on.
I Shop, Therefore I Am…
The remodeling of shopping centres is nothing unheard of, but the recent bout of reinvention goes beyond the saying of “if you build it, they will come”. While the motive travels along these lines, there is much more happening in, say, Scentre’s reinvention of Westfield than just adding some hip, new shop-fronts or an Instagram-worthy café.
Scentre Group has been the owner of Westfield Australia and New Zealand since 2014 and has devoted itself to “creating extraordinary places” and “enriching communities”. This involves investing millions of dollars into the complete makeover of each individual Westfield on their books.
When I think about this, I’m reminded of the ‘Parade of Tributes’ scene in The Hunger Games. Remember, when the tributes ride out in the Capitol in costumes designed to reflect each of their districts? Now think about the different Westfields you’ve been to…
If it’s a day of classy, New York-esque indulgence, then you’ll head for the CBD Westfield to shop designer brands and treat yourself to incredible food in the chic food court. Or maybe you’re out for authentic Asian street-food alongside getting your groceries, in which case it’s Chatswood Westfield for you. Maybe you don’t know if you want to be indoors or out, shopping or reading by the water; hey you can do both at Warringah Mall in Balgowlah.
In each Westfield mall, Scentre has studied the consumer patterns of its local demographics and updated the space accordingly. While each one has a few staples like a Hoyts cinema, a Target, Myer, and JB Hi-Fi, a larger portion of retail space is devoted to the types of shop-fronts that fit the consumer patterns of that community. The result: custom-designed retail experiences. As each Westfield reflects the flavour of its community, we’re spoilt for choice! We can have a day of ‘retail therapy’ that suits whatever mood we’re in.
And it’s not just the allure of these new shopping experiences that keeps us going. The spaces themselves have become just as important – Instagram-worthy, even! Supplementing the rows of chic shops are sculptures and fountains, flowers and upside down parasols hanging from the ceiling, science-fiction screens floating in midair advertising the latest trends, and there’s always catchy music wafting through the hustle and bustle. Add to that special mall-based events and partnerships that offer live music, kids entertainment, Microsoft gaming workshops, High Teas, fashion parades, lobster, champagne, holiday prizes to the Greek Islands… they’re throwing everything at us with the kitchen sink!
All in all, it’s probably safe to say the retail ‘apocalypse’ hasn’t really hit Australia just yet… but the fat cats like Scentre are undoubtedly working damn hard to delay the inevitable. Facelifts of local shopping malls have not just made them more eye-catching or promised one or two fresh new stores; they’ve reimagined the entire shopping experience. We don’t just go to the shops anymore, we spend the day in glamorous all-weather fantasy lands, taking Instagram-perfect snapshots in spaces we actually like to be.