The Melbourne CBD's growing population is a key factor in the rise of food outlets in the city centre, according to an analysis by Savills.
Savills Retail director Michael Di Carlo said competition from the internet was a big factor - but not the only one. Mr Di Carlo said supermarket and food and beverage retailing had increased in the CBD, while department stores and fashion and soft goods had decreased. ''A key driver of this change in the CBD has also been population factors,'' he said.
Mr Di Carlo said the rising residential population, more office staff and even tourists had all made big contributions to the CBD retail spend. ''This has not been lost on retailers, especially on the food and beverage variety,'' he said.
Colliers International's manager of retail, Ben Tremellen, said there had been a definite surge in food retailing in the CBD. Mr Tremellen said many fashion retailers were waiting to see where the market was heading. Even the incentive of lower rents from some landlords was not enticing them. ''Also, the banks are not lending to retailers,'' he said.
Colliers figures show that the number of workers in the CBD was now 291,366, with the total growing 1.5 per cent annually. However, by 2016, the total is expected to be 318,246 - 2.6 per cent higher than the previous year. The residential population is now 22,399 and is tipped to grow to 26,737 by 2016.
The latest retail survey by Savills - Spotlight on Melbourne CBD Retail, August 2012 - found that ''cafes, restaurants and takeaway food'' constituted 26 per cent of retail outlets, with ''food'' another 3 per cent. However, the category ''clothing, footwear and personal accessory'' still constituted 38 per cent of the CBD retail mix.
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data for July, the food and food services sector continued to show better returns than other retailers, with food retailing (0.4 per cent), and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.8 per cent) posting rises in trend terms.
South Melbourne Market stalwart Dim Sims signed its first CBD lease at 26 Elizabeth Street after more than 50 years at South Melbourne, while restaurateur and chef Marco Santucci agreed on terms on a new 400-square-metre lease at 31 Flinders Lane. Also, a long-standing Hawthorn cafe has taken a Hardware Lane lease.
Colliers' June survey found food services was the largest CBD retail category at 37.1 per cent, while food retailing was 6.5 per cent. There were 218 cafes in the CBD, which equated to 996 CBD workers for every cafe. Cafes tended to be near train stations.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 September 2012
