What are the retail characteristics of King Street?
King St, Newtown, is a strip of approximately two kilometres in between City Road and the Princes Highway. The prime area for fashion retail is between the Marlborough Hotel at 145 King Street through to Newtown train station. Both sides of the street are equally strong.
It has a lot of mixed label boutiques, including Maple, Crazy Horse and Stellino. There are a handful of chain stores such as Seduce, which opened in 2004, Industrie, which opened in 2008, and Funky Femme. There are also lots of stores that sell alternative fashion, as well as vintage stores. These tend to be located towards the St Peters end, which is non-core.
What is the area like?
Historically, King Street was thought to follow the line of ancient Aboriginal track that connected the Sydney cove area to Botany Bay. King St has been well served by public transport, prior to 1957 by a tramway and also by the existing railway station opening in 1878.
During the nineties, King St was more known for its ‘grunge retail’ with a reputation of being rather seedy. However, over the past decade, the area has completely changed and become a refuge for alternative fashion retail, where shoppers flock to find items not found in shopping centres.
King Street attracts a lot of destination shoppers, locals and tourists (both domestic and international). In addition to fashion it has a mix of everything there, including a cinema, beauty services, takeaway food, restaurants, bars and pubs. It is a very busy road and has bus and train access. It does have some parking on the street, which is heavily regulated by parking inspectors.
What are the demographics of Newtown?
The area is home to a number of one- person households at 34.8 per cent, while two-person households are at 38.2 per cent, according to the 2006 census. There is a pretty wide age group in the area, however there are not many children. There are lots of students due to the close proximity to various universities.
What do retailers pay for a lease on the street?
There are very low vacancy rates on the street, with current vacancy of less than four per cent. Fashion retailers are paying between $600/sqmto $1100/sqm gross for a store, with most under 100 sqm in space. Most stores are small, with the exception of Maple, which is around 400 sqm in the old post office building.
Food retailers tend to pay a lot more, from around $1500/sqm to $1700/sqm gross. This is because they have longer trading hours and tend to turn over more than the fashion retailers. Retail leasing costs in Newtown have remained strong in comparison to other strips.
Are big international brands likely to move in?
No, Newtown seems to be retaining its original character in architecture as well as vintage shops. We don’t have any word of international brands looking for space. High end fashion would not suit the location – it is better suited to non-mainstream, low to mid-range priced brands. If internationals did move in, I don’t think the locals would be very happy about it.
Leasing Information Services is a national independent online provider of retail lasing data in Australia. It offers complete rental comparisons and valuations, demographics and site selection research. Visit www.leaseinfo.com.au.
Personal perspective
Sarah-Jane Miller has been retailing on King Street in Newtown for 15 years. the Sarah-Jane boutique owner gives Melinda Oliver a rundown of the shopping strip.
Where is Sarah-Jane located?
We are at 133 King Street in a fairly big store, opposite Yoshi Jones womenswear store and near [beauty product store] Aesop. We have previously had stores in Oxford Street, Paddington, and Darling Street in Balmain.
What do you sell?
The store has the Sarah-Jane brand of vintage inspired womenswear, which is very feminine, with lace, silks and velvets part of each collection. It is definitely a competitive area, but there are enough customers to go around.
What appeals about King Street?
Newtown is very bohemian and I am a bit that way. There is a lot of creative energy which I am attracted to. There is an eclectic crowd and quite a few nice shops around. Most of the shops are for younger customers.
What customers do you attract?
We are not pitched at the young customer and I don't get the student crowd, but I don't cater for an older crowd either. I get a lot of mums with prams coming in, and also a lot of people walk up from the [RPA] hospital while they are waiting. The breast clinic is nearby and women come in to treat themselves after appointments. I also get a lot of support from local customers.
What are the negatives of the area?
The rents are really high. I pay over $2000 per week, which is undeservedly high for the area. It was originally a little cheaper. A challenge is that the trucks fly down the street which are noisy and not safe. For such a dynamic retail street they really should lighten the traffic flow – it can be a bottleneck. It really could be so much nicer. Parking is also difficult in the area. It is getting more like the Paddington district in Sydney, with strict parking inspections.