Auckland retailers jewel in the crown
Chris Dibble, research and consulting manager at Jones Lang LaSalle, says the harbour end of Auckland's premier shopping strip has become a magnet for luxury retailers.
Gucci and Louis Vuitton trade sidebyside, joining local jewellery giant Michael Hill in the recentlyrefurbished 1900s Imperial and Everybody's character buildings.
Clothing specialist Tarocash is leaving premises near the Queen St/Wyndham St intersection and moving to
oakley military the Customs St/Queen St corner opposite Queen Elizabeth II Square.
That fitout at 22 Queen St has been under way for weeks, replacing Champions of the World, the All Blacks' official store. Champions still has an outlet open on Queen St, almost directly opposite its old premises.
Dibble says Kathmandu will move into Tarocash's old Queen St shop, giving it a
victoria secret bathing suits Queen St presence beneath its largeformat store on level one of 151 Queen St, premises owned by AMP NZ Office Trust, up an elevator off Queen St.
International luxury designer handbags, leather goods and accessories brand, Oroton, has voted confidence in the CBD, securing premises at 31 Vulcan Lane near Cafe Melba.
Oroton was planning to open just off Queen St on August 23 and that offer is in addition to its Newmarket premises at 277 on Broadway.
Dick Smith Electronics' new store in the bottom of 21 Queen St has brought more foot traffic
hermes belt to the area and the shift of bigname retailers to Queen St's waterfront end was further cemented a year ago by the opening up of new retail space at the bottom of the Deloitte Tower at 80 Queen St.
BNZ, an office tenant in the tower, opened an experimental retail banking outlet there abandoning traditional tellerstyle counters in favour of more open designs, a project their security experts were closely involved in.
Four new internationalbrand shops have also opened in the building, just one block up Queen St from Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
They opened on October 30 last year to sell mainly topend highquality bigbrand clothes and shoes. North Face has those items, plus tents, sleeping bags, backpacks and outdoor equipment.
Lacoste moved into the most prominent space on the Queen/Fort St corner. Ben Sherman moved to the Fort/Jean Batten Place corner with a strong British theme including fitting rooms like a gentleman's library. Shoe retailer Rockport is trading from Jean Batten Place and North Face on the Jean Batten Place/Shortland St corner. Its back wall of four changing rooms sports a strong image of Mt Everest climbers.
Espresso business Altezano has opened a cafe in the tripleheight entrance foyer to the offices on the Queen/Shortland St corner. True Alliance of Sydney took the head lease over the four new shops which completed Brookfield Multiple
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