Neighbourhood spending

“Shop local” was the theme throughout the height of lockdowns and that line of thinking is being encouraged further by significant investment in suburban retail hubs to service communities and strengthen local bonds.

With hybrid working models being widely-embraced by corporates and other businesses, more people are regularly working from home, or within co-working spaces close to home.

Having fewer people commuting daily to a CBD office desk organically supports retail and service providers in the suburbs, with the local coffee shop doing a roaring trade, barbers and neighbourhood hairdressers finding new customers and boutique retail operators trading well.

Chris Beasleigh, Bayleys national director retail sales and leasing, said suburban shopping centres are high on the convenience scale and customers are seeing them through new eyes.

“I think the pandemic has given all of us a new appreciation for those businesses located in or close to where we live.

“We’ve also noted a greater sense of connection among neighbourhoods, with social media driving the importance of looking out for each other and businesses promoting their unique points-of-difference.

“Where it was once aspirational to have a business in the CBD, now it’s the suburbs’ turn to take the spotlight.”

New, master-planned mixed-use residential/commercial precincts are also fuelling the “one-stop” live, work, play model and making it cool to stay local.

Todd Property Group’s Ormiston Town Centre development in south-east Auckland, in an area with a rapidly-growing population, epitomises a suburban precinct designed to meet the retail, service and entertainment needs of an evolving community.

Ormiston Town Centre has grocery stores, gyms, health and beauty services, retail, and department stores and a strong food and beverage offering – complemented by easy access, ample free car parking, and electric vehicle charging stations.

“This high-specification hub is a best practice example of how to cater to a growing community and keep people connected and loyal to their residential catchment,” said Beasleigh.

“Smaller retail businesses looking for a new location can be heartened by the fact that big operators have committed to Ormiston Town Centre based on demographic and sociographic data that shows demand for retail offerings.

“Why not leverage off this strategic intel and follow suit?”

Likewise, new Countdown supermarkets will soon underpin commercial and retail developments in Waiata Shores, Takanini, and Richmond in the Nelson/Tasman region.

While the supermarkets will anchor these precincts, there’s opportunity for food, retail, service, and medical operators to weigh-in with complementary offerings for evolving residential communities.

“Footfall and traffic counts are all-important for bricks-and-mortar retail and a supermarket is a consumer magnet – despite the proliferation of online shopping,” said Beasleigh.

On a smaller scale, developers are eyeing up potential sites for bespoke retail projects in established, more-traditional neighbourhoods where retail and service offerings have not kept pace with population growth or changing consumer demands.

Suburbs that have historically only offered a corner dairy, a hairdresser and a takeaway store are now crying out for a gym, a physio, a nail salon and an artisan food market.

Despite the escalating world of ecommerce, there are some services that clicking simply cannot fulfil.

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