With low vacancies and global brands, Rundle Mall is drawing attention globally

Adelaide’s Rundle Mall already boasts the lowest rate of vacancies of any of Australia’s pedestrianised malls, at about 5 per cent. And with major international brands continuing to make their South Australian debuts in the heart of the city, that figure is set to shrink even further.

Total consumer spending in Rundle Mall reached approximately $1.4 billion in the latest financial year, with 85 per cent of retail spending in the City of Adelaide council area occurring within the mall and its connected environs.

Andrew White, executive manager of Rundle Mall with the Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA), says retailers from the Eastern Seaboard are surprised at how much is going on when they visit Adelaide. “Many people tell me this is the best mall model in Australia. 

“I don’t think people quite realise the sheer size and scale of the mall,” he continues. It’s the largest in the southern hemisphere with a 520-metre-long outdoor pedestrian mall, believed to be the busiest in Australia, with about 54 million people walking it annually. It is home to 700 retailers, 300 services, and more than 300 activations, events, and festivals annually.

Rundle Mall is managed by the Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA), a subsidiary of the City of Adelaide. Rather than a landlord, AEDA sees itself as the custodian of Rundle Mall. The organisation works hard with various property owners throughout the precinct to optimise the tenant mix, encourage speciality precincts – like food & beverage or entertainment – and market the mall as a destination both within the state and nationwide. It’s a model unlike anything else in the country.

A post-pandemic bounceback

Adelaide was not subjected to the degree of lockdowns and disruption other states faced throughout the pandemic. However, foot traffic was impacted during 2020 and 2021 before recovering quickly. Last year, Rundle Mall hosted foot traffic about 27 per cent higher than in 2019. “So there’s been a massive bounce back,” explains White. 

That recovery has been fuelled by flourishing educational institutions along nearby North Terrace, enrolling record student numbers, and an increasing concentration of office workers in the CBD. The city’s 88 per cent office attendance is the second highest in the nation, supported in part thanks to developments like Charter Hall’s $450 million 60 King William completed late last year, an ‘A’ grade office tower tenanted by NAB and Services Australia, among others.

So, too, sports events, festivals, and tourism have proved vital, especially during the past couple of years. 

Rundle Mall plays a vital role in South Australia, allowing brands to prove their concepts before considering other locations in the state. Uniqlo, which opened its first South Australian store in Rundle Mall nearly two years ago, is an excellent example. 

“The level of sales Uniqlo is doing there would indicate a strong market in the city. There’s potentially some trepidation for businesses around coming into South Australia, but once they launch in the mall, they realise they have customers here and often expand further. Mecca is another example of that. 

“As we speak to potential brands, and they come over and start doing their due diligence, they’re going over the number of events and festivals and the numbers of pedestrians we get here – 54 million is astronomical – and when they see the mall in person, they tell me there’s nothing quite like this anywhere else in Australia. That’s the sort of feedback that lets us know we’re on the right track.”

Rundle Mall’s tenancy mix is strong, including some of Australia’s and the world’s biggest brands. H&M opened its first South Australian store in Rundle Mall before the pandemic and has been joined by other brands exclusive to the mall within the state, including Apple, Tag Heuer, Glue Store, Dr Martens, and Milligram.

Luxury retailers Tiffany & Co, The Hourglass and Breitling are in the mall, as well as Dymocks, JD Sports, Mecca, Sephora, RM Williams, Rebel, Nike, and Adidas.

Both the nation’s major department stores, Myer and David Jones, plus Kmart, Coles, Woolworths and Foodland supermarkets, are on the tenant roster too.

Entertainment is also important. Funlab has brought its brands Hijinx Hotel, Archie Brothers and Strike Bowling to Level 1 of Rundle Place, creating a first-of-its-kind entertainment precinct. “Having that massive entertainment anchor is another feature of the mall that our customers have been crying out for over a long while now, so that’s filled a big void.”

Add to that a growing roster of food and beverage offers – more than 100 eateries – and Rundle Mall, created 48 years ago when it was closed to vehicular traffic, has clearly evolved beyond predominantly traditional retail. “Now we have got a more diversified offering.”

Beyond Rundle Mall, a broader precinct

Rather than just the mall frontage, Rundle Mall is a broader precinct encompassing all retailers, services and food & beverage between King William Street to the west, North Terrace, Pulteney Street to the east and Grenfell Street to the south. At City Cross, which links Rundle Mall and Grenfell Street, new owner Revelop is undertaking a $25 million makeover of the centre, which includes new flagship stores for Sheike and Vans.

Precision Group, the owner of Adelaide Central Plaza, is investing $125 million over the next three years to become a hub for premium brands and last year hosted a Louis Vuitton pop-up store, while Myer Centre recently unveiled a $15 million upgrade to the building’s facade.

Unlike other major Australian cities, Adelaide retail is centred around a CBD model. “The life and soul of South Australia exists in the city, and our mall is the backbone and heart of the city. The strip itself is the main attraction, where all the flagships go,” says White.

Events are a huge focus of AEDA as it looks for every opportunity to attract visitors. 

“We are getting away from the traditional retail calendar and very much around events, festivals, and experiential activations. That’s where we see our unique benefit,” says White.

The Adelaide Fringe Festival runs through February and March – “five weeks of absolute pandemonium in the city” – with all sorts of artists and creatives descending upon the city. Several weeks ago, Adelaide Fashion Week provided an opportunity to create experiences and pop-ups outside of retail shopping, and the mall hosted its Urban Kitchen during the annual Tasting Australia festival. All of these events are staged or significantly supported by AEDA. 

“Beyond that, we have heritage architecture you can’t get anywhere else with 100-year-old buildings and a unique main-street retail environment with open air and sun. You cannot replicate all that in a suburb or suburban centre.”

The City of Adelaide is growing fast. “We have many student accommodation developments in the pipeline, more hotels are coming, and office towers are going up, left, right and centre. There’s a massive amount of investment coming in around Adelaide. That means you will have a mix of different cohorts: students, city workers, tourists, and residents,” continues White. 

“The City of Adelaide plans to double the residential population by 2036, so there’s a lot of momentum around building the capacity of the CBD and Rundle Mall will be the beneficiary of that.

“It’s a cheaper, easier place to do business than other state capitals and a very stable market. Geographically, we’re in the centre of the country, so we can access all markets with relative ease, making it a pretty appealing location to do business,” he concludes. 

“We’re a place where people come to study, to enjoy the best quality of life you can imagine.”

• For more information about Rundle Mall and its leasing opportunities, visit the website.

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