Atrium-style Adelaide mall best ‘mini gun' in the country

With seven of the malls in the top 10 reporting higher total annual retail sales than pre-pandemic, the report highlights how smaller neighbourhood malls have benefited from trends like work-from-home and more localised shopping habits.

It also explains investor appetite for these malls, which continue to trade at high prices and sharp yields.

“Mini Guns survived the pandemic much better than their Little and Big Gun counterparts, with many even showing substantial increases [in performance],” said SCN publisher Michael Lloyd.

Owned for decades by the Cohen family’s Cohen Group, 18,924-square-metre Burnside Village in Glenside, just to the east of the Adelaide CBD, ranked first again on a total annual sales basis, generating $238 million over the 12 months to July 31.

This was up 5.4 per cent on the prior year, and almost 20 per cent higher than the $199 million of turnover generated across its 100 stores in 2019.

Centre manager Ric Walker attributed Burnside Village’s sustained success to its “special mix” of flagship luxury stores – the centre is home to South Australia’s first Zara store, and featuring boutique Australian fashion labels such as Camilla, Carla Zampatti, Scanlan Theodore, and sass & bide – a calendar of curated events, high levels of customer service and distinctive architecture.

“Architecturally, the centre with its big towering glass ceilings generates plenty of natural light and makes it bright and airy, which are all the things shoppers sought during COVID-19,” Mr Walker told The Australian Financial Review.

“We’re also finding that shopping patterns have changed, and that work from home has lifted spending per head in the mall. Foot traffic is around the same, but people have not stopped spending.”

Burnside Village ranked just ahead of Upper North Shore institution, the St Ives Shopping Village on Mona Vale Road, owned by the Katz family’s E.K. Nominees.

The 17,273-square-metre mall, which is now up for sale asking at least $500 million, generated total annual sales of $236 million over the year to July, up 6 per cent, with much of this turnover coming from its three anchor tenants: Woolworths, Coles, and Harris Farm Markets.

On a per square metre basis, Charter Hall’s Pacific Square Mall on Anzac Parade in Maroubra ranked best mini gun in the nation, generating an average $18,820 per sq m across the 13,587 sq m centre, which is anchored by Coles and Aldi.