Retail
The City is the dominant retailing centre in South Australia, providing the widest range of retail establishments and merchandise, and Rundle Mall remains the largest and most vibrant retail centre in the State.
With more than 700 retail specialty stores, 15 shopping arcades and centres, more than 5,000 undercover car spaces, a steadily-growing consumer market expected to reach 150,000 a day by 2010, and an annual turnover of $750 million, it is one of Australia’s most concentrated and successful shopping precincts.
It is supported by a growing daily workforce of 110,000 – about a fifth of metropolitan Adelaide’s total, and about 75,000 daily visitors – a quarter of them shoppers - from metropolitan Adelaide who take advantage of the fact that the Adelaide CBD is at the heart of the City’s transport network. More than 280,000 people live within 7km of the City centre.
The City also hosts a growing number of students - currently around 60,000, including increasing numbers living in dedicated student accommodation in the City. Adelaide as a conference destination also attracts around 27,000 delegates each year.
“With the resident, student, worker and visitor populations in the Adelaide CBD all showing signs of growth, Rundle Mall can expect its customer base to expand,” says David Snoswell, Associate Director – Research, of Jones Lang LaSalle Australia.
“We remain confident about Rundle Mall’s future due to its steadily growing customer base, an improved retail offer and its relatively large population base within easy reach. Market share seems to have stabilised in the past few years and retailers such as Borders and Harvey Norman have added a new dimension to what the Mall offers.
“One of the beauties of the City is that it has more than Rundle Mall, with several other distinct retail precincts each with their own values,” David adds. It means that retail businesses can start out in cheap accommodation, with rents in some commercial buildings as low as $180 per square metre per annum, and move to higher grade premises as they grow.
The East End of Rundle Street, for example, has developed almost as a retail small business incubator, while Hutt Street provides residents with cafes and convenience stores, and retail strips in Melbourne Street and O’Connell Street in North Adelaide provide a range of options for small, eclectic retail businesses.
The City’s Central Market and Gouger Street precinct is another growth area. David says: “It is unique in that it provides a retail function that isn’t available anywhere else in the metropolitan area, serving local residents and people from the suburbs.”
Fast Facts
● Dominant state retailing centre
● Massive customer base
● Retail underpinned by broader City attractions