International retailers eye off Sydney

International retailers eye off SydneyInternational high street fashion brands are making their move into the Australian retail space, with major names taking up tenancy in North Ryde’s Macquarie Centre and Sydney CBD’s Sydney Arcade.Macquarie Centre will soon host the country’s largest line-up of international high street fashion brands, with H&M, UNIQLO, Zara and Gap all signing on. A fifth big-name retailer, thought to be American ‘fast fashion’ brand Forever 21, is expected to add its name to the line-up in coming weeks.Upon completion, Macquarie Centre will become the largest suburban shopping centre in NSW with 138,0 sqm of floor space.Joining the international retailers in the centre will be domestic department stores Myer and David Jones (its first new store in Sydney in seven years), 130 specialty fashion and beauty stores and a range of dining and café offerings.Stage one of the redevelopment opened in July, featuring a fresh food market precinct including new Coles and ALDI supermarkets and a refurbished Woolworths.Bryan Hynes, managing director of AMP Capital Shopping Centres, said: “The centre will include the most international, large-format fashion brands of any Australian shopping centre, as well as established local brands, aspirational fashion retailers, unique leisure and lifestyle retailers, and the best fresh food offering in the area.”The complex is part of AMP Capital Shopping Centres’ $2.8-billion development pipeline. Among the other major projects underway are redevelopments at the Gold Coast’s Pacific Fair and Perth’s Ocean Keys. Works are also proposed in Perth at the Garden City, Booragoon and Karrinyup shopping centres.Forever 21 is expected to open its Macquarie Centre offering in December 2014, hot on the heels of its first Australian store, which is set to open in Brisbane in November 2014.However, only recently has the retail giant (more than 480 stores worldwide) found a location it can use to anchor the Forever 21 brand here in Australia, with Investa Office announcing it has finalised a 10-year lease for the brand at Sydney Arcade, 400 George Street.The 2741 sqm space offers prime street-level frontage to Pitt Street Mall, Sydney’s most prized shopping precinct. The deal is the culmination of a five-year search for quality space in Australia for the retailer.