New retail model on frontlines of global trend

A new model in retail trading launched in West End is on the frontlines of a global trend in shopping experiences.

The Village Retail model, part of Sekisui House’s West Village project, reflects an evolution in neighbourhood shopping centres and follows a global “goldilocks” trend where a mix of high density living, growth of a knowledge economy, lifestyle expectations and inner-urban accessibility is “just right”.

KPMG Partner and head of KPMG demographics Bernard Salt was at West Village to help launch Village Retail.

Mr Salt said West End’s Boundary Street Precinct, including West Village, was emerging as a lifestyle precinct adjacent to Brisbane’s economic and cultural heart.

“So-called ‘hipster-zones’ catering to young knowledge and creative workers are on the rise globally in places like Shoreditch London, Brooklyn New York and Norrebro Copenhagen,” Mr Salt said.

“This is a global movement and the Boundary Street Precinct is part of that movement - it is more than a precinct, it’s a community that is transitioning from student enclave to knowledge worker community.

“A premium is attached to proximity to the CBD job market and to the amenity of the inner city - the best shops, the best restaurants, the best arts facilities and cultural centres, the best sporting stadia, the best range and scale of jobs that any State has to offer within a short walk from home”.

West Village Project Director Andrew Thompson said the changing Boundary Street precinct, and the lifestyle expectations of inner-urban residents, meant that savvy retailers were looking for opportunities to embed themselves within knowledge economy communities.

“At West Village, the local neighbourhood shopping centre will evolve to capture today’s consumer’s imagination and will be an exciting alternative to shopping at home on the internet,” Mr Thompson said.

“Learning from its developments across the globe, Sekisui House has identified that a customer’s sense of relationship is just as important as the products on offer, so our Village Retail model will balance culture, education, lifestyle and convenience amenity – the mix is unrivalled in Brisbane.”

Mr Thompson said Village Retail would initially include an art gallery, food education, a children’s farm garden, communal event spaces and three parkside restaurants called 'The Garden Pantry' - all delivered in 2018. In 2020, the remaining retail will open, including a new full-line Woolworths supermarket, a fresh food market, a gym, child care, medical centre and more than 20 additional food and beverage offerings.

“What we are building at West Village is an exemplar of the new precincts that Bernard Salt has described - quality retail is following the residential swing towards inner-urban residential properties that offer genuine lifestyle,” Mr Thompson said.

Visit the West Village website