US fashion house Kate Spade will open its first New Zealand outlet store at Auckland Airport’s soon-to-be launched $200 million premium outlet shopping centre called Mānawa Bay.
Kate Spade currently operates two stores in New Zealand, one at Commercial Bay, and another at Auckland Airport's international terminal.
Auckland Airport said the Mānawa Bay outlet centre is already attracting global brands such as Coach, Under Armour, Fila and Puma, and local NZ fashion retailers such as Flo & Frankie. More local brands across New Zealand and Australia have signed up, Auckland Airport noted, with those names announced later.
“The outlet centre’s filling up fast and all of our anchor sites have now been leased,” Commercial chief Mark Thomson said. “We look forward to sharing more details about our further confirmed agreements with other major retail brands over the coming weeks.
“Brands are gaining access to what will be New Zealand’s first purpose-built outlet shopping centre – designed and created based on what retailers require to offer the best experience possible to their customers.”
Mānawa Bay will cover 24,000m2 on the water’s edge on Auckland Airport’s precinct and is on track to open in the second half of 2024. The centre will house more than 100 retail brands, with stores ranging in size from 50m2 to 1,500m2.
Over 50 per cent of the net lettable area is now under either signed Heads of Terms or Agreement to Lease, with Auckland Airport also in live discussions with over 80 potential tenants for the centre.
Construction of the outlet centre is advanced with foundations nearing completion, currently at 90 per cent.
“Despite serious wet weather this year, we’re proud to say we’re still on track, running to program,” Thomson said. “The building’s structural steel is 60 per cent completed with the roof installation following closely in behind it, and the first concrete floor pour has been done.”