Kangaroo Island sea change awaits with double tourism opportunity

This rare chance to set up shop a few doors from your bestie has never looked better, with two retail outlets up for grabs on a prime main street less than a minute’s walk from one another.

Kangaroo Island, Australia’s third-largest island, is nestled off the coast of South Australia some 110 kilometres from Adelaide, and is known for its rugged beauty, wilderness and abundance of animals – notably the Kangaroo Island kangaroo, a stockier version of the mainland variety.

The island is a popular destination for tourists keen on some of the country’s best bushwalks and walking tours, with accommodation ranging from camping to five-star retreats. 

With a backdrop of clear blue water perfect for swimming, diving, kayaking and surfing, there’s also a foodie scene bolstered by local cellar doors, farm gates and fishermen.

It’s just a 45-minute ferry trip to the township of Penneshaw from Cape Jervis, about 88 kilometres south of Adelaide, or a short 30-minute flight to Kingscote Airport from Adelaide.

Tony Ricketts of Ray White Adelaide City Commercial is marketing both properties on behalf of an owner who is retiring after running the gift shop for close to 35 years.

The gift shop is located at 78 Dauncey Street, and the vacant former beauty parlour sits down the road at 68 Dauncey Street.

“It’s definitely a sea change opportunity to work and live on the islands, with all the commercial conveniences you would expect,” Ricketts says.

“Since the fires, there’s been significant growth.”

The rustic, artsy and chilled town of Kingscote is the island’s largest, drawing thousands of tourists looking for unique shopping experiences. 

“It is a bit of a sleepy town, but that’s part of its beauty as well, [but] it’s very central,” Ricketts says, noting the gift shop’s ideal position opposite the Queenscliffe Family Hotel.

Significant infrastructure investment, including a “game changer” golf links and hotel at Pelican Lagoon set on the cliffs on former crown land and private land, is underway.

The Cliffs development will include a world-class golf course, clubhouse, restaurant, four luxury suites and 20 detached accommodation pods.

Further investment includes the $19.5 million Flinders Chase National Park Visitor Centre – replacing the Rocky River centre destroyed in the 2019-2020 summer bushfires – as well as significant road works and new Sealink ferry docking facilities.

“There will be much larger, quicker ferries,” Ricketts says. “Drive on, drive off, you know, so that’s a bit of a game changer as well.”

The Kingscote Gift Shop occupies a high-profile two-storey corner position with excellent visibility and high foot traffic, a spacious floor plan and loads of natural light. 

It has an asking price of more than $2 million, including the freehold, worth around $1.5 million, plus the $300,000 business and stock.

Busloads of tourists drive in from Penneshaw, where the ferries dock, on the lookout for souvenirs and take home a wide variety of products, from local produce to stationery, books, arts, crafts and jewellery.

“This business has been operating profitably for over 30 years, and is well proven over time,” Ricketts says.

“A lot of the cruise liners make their way to Kingscote and this particular shop, because they can buy all the stuff in one place.”

Down the road, the smaller shop at 68 Dauncey Street, formerly known as Seaside Beauty, is now being offered as vacant possession.

First operating as a butcher shop after being built in 1950, it has a footprint of just 110 square metres, and could be repurposed in a variety of ways.

“It’s a nicely presented, single-story, little commercial building, which could be used by a consultant, or as offices or retail,” Ricketts says.

The Kangaroo Island bushfires destroyed 211,474 hectares of land – almost half the island – an estimated 32,000 head of stock and domestic animals, and an unknown amount of wild animals, over several weeks.