The enduring appeal of Brisbane's best shopping strips

“While physical retail locations are still considered an absolute necessity for the majority of retailers, the focus is on reducing the size of footprints within high profile and expensive locations to lower the occupancy costs for their physical stores,” he said.

“Another factor that has shaped the Brisbane retail landscape has been the significant evolution in the food-and-beverage industry, with inner-city residents now spoilt for choice. This over-supply has put pressure on a number of food-and-beverage precincts as the competition to secure customers increases.”

With 26 million people passing by each year, Queen Street Mall was a high foot-traffic location with international and national retailers and hence a high volume of sales, JLL Queensland head of retail leasing Cameron Taudevin said.

“In comparison, a luxury precinct such as Brisbane’s Edward Street offers a lower volume of pedestrian foot traffic but a higher spend per capita due to the number of luxury retailers in the vicinity,” Mr Taudevin said.

“The types of retailers in Queen Street Mall range from mid to high-tier fashion through to streetwear and discount pharmacies, optical and telcos. In the late 1990s, there were around 60 owners in the mall, and in 2019 there are around 20.”

This popularity has helped push down the vacancy rate for prime retail spaces in the CBD to almost 6 per cent in the six months to December, with gross rents per square metre in Queen Street Mall increasing 3 per cent in 2018 to $6000, according to JLL figures.

James Street, Fortitude Valley, was a boutique “destination” retail experience, with national and niche fashion retailers as the main tenants with high-quality, local food-and-beverage operators adding depth to the retail mix, Mr Taudevin said.

“Not dissimilar to James Street, King Street offers a ‘destination’ retail experience and is tenanted by national and local food-and-beverage retailers. The site offers a variety of food options plus a gourmet market that doubles as a restaurant and bottle shop.

“Driving foot traffic during the week are a number of commercial office tenants including Aurecon, which has its new office at 25 King Street – Australia’s tallest timber commercial tower.”

On James Street, rents have increased 5 per cent in 2018, to $1600 a square metre gross, while rents on King Street have also increased 5 per cent in the same period to be $1000 a square metre, JLL figures show.

Colliers Queensland retail leasing associate director Luke McGrath said the key to the success of James Street was planning and a controlled retail mix.

“A strip that has either one landlord or landlords that are able to collaborate and work towards the best mix for the street are usually the most successful,” he said.

Savills Queensland managing director Anthony Ott said James Street was popular due to its concentration of quality offerings, balanced mix of food and beverage, fashion, and lifestyle-based
retail.

“There is a common ownership of a number of buildings which means that quality is maintained,” he said.

“There is also a good engagement with tenants to work collaboratively for shared success and to achieve strong community engagement and an inviting streetscape.”

However, Mr Ott cited Queen Street Mall as arguably Brisbane retail’s greatest success story.

“It is the premier address for ‘high street’ retail and enjoys in excess of 25 million people visits through the mall annually,” he said.

“While its success is underpinned by its location in the heart of the CBD, it also benefits from the very active marketing of the precinct through groups such as Brisbane Marketing and a large emphasis on generating events and entertainment on the mall.

“Major national and international brands are located among over 700 retailers and so it draws in a lot of people to access the services available.”

In King Street, Beerhaus opened for the first time in Brisbane in May 2018 and Rockpool Dining Group chief executive officer Thomas Pash said its popularity was a combination of a great location and its unique offering.

“As a social precinct, King Street is really bustling now with diners increasingly keen to check it out,” he said.

“Beerhaus stands out from the crowd. As well as being a Beerhaus with 40 beers on tap, we’re a social house. It’s a place to hang out and have a good time with ping pong battles, hold-the-stein competitions, open mic night every Monday and other games and entertainment.

“We love the King Street location with its cluster of restaurants and cafes, it’s a real foodie destination. It’s fascinating and inspiring to walk around the area and take in its heritage-listed features and buildings that have been restored and repurposed, the many new apartment and restaurant developments, and see the full potential that is yet to be realised.”