Commercial property firm Vicinity Centres has shared retail sales across its portfolio for the March 2026 quarter, with department stores being the only store type seeing a slip in sales.
Vicinity manages 49 shopping centre properties across Australia, including the likes of Chadstone, Emporium Melbourne, Chatswood Chase, the Queen Victoria Building, and a selection of outlet centres.
In its trading update this week, Vicinity Centres reported that sales across department stores in the March 2026 quarter compared to the same time last year were down 3.3 per cent. In the December 2025 quarter, this was down 0.2 per cent.
In the same timeframe, discount department stores saw a 5.1 per cent lift in sales in the March 2026 quarter, with Vicinity noting this reflects continued customer preference for value-led propositions, alongside a benefit from earlier Easter timing, which may have seen some Easter-related spend brought forward into March.
Sales across apparel and footwear – excluding luxury – lifted 3.7 per cent in the March 2026 quarter, driven by jeaneries, unisex and footwear. Including luxury, fashion sales were up 1.7 per cent in the March quarter.
Interestingly, jewellery sales have slipped dramatically in the March quarter, lifting just 2 per cent compared to 12.9 per cent in the December quarter.
Jewellery and leisure both saw double-digit growth in the six months and the year-to the December 2025 quarter.
Total portfolio sales across Vicinity Centres lifted 3.4 per cent, and were up 4.1 per cent when excluding luxury sales.
Led by high performing specialty and mini majors up 4.6 per cent, Chadstone’s total centre sales were up 4.2 per cent.
Vicinity added that shopping centres within city CBDs across Australia reported 5.9 per cent growth in specialty and mini major sales in 3Q FY26, with Emporium up 9.5 per cent following the re-opening of the expanded Uniqlo store.
Outlets increased by 2.7 per cent for the quarter, despite slight moderation in sales growth in March. March 2026 included one fewer Saturday than March 2025, with Vicinity noting that Saturdays are particularly important for the outlet portfolio.