Retail is changing in many ways and quickly. With space costing more, landlords and retailers are looking for new models to through which to drive value. We are seeing more smaller shops open than ever before.
Years ago there was a trend for large newsagencies – 300, 400, 500 square metres with coffee shops and other stores within the store. Now the trend in shopping malls is for newsagencies to be close to 100 square metres.
On Tuesday I saw one of the smallest shops ever, a ‘cafe’ in Auckland. Click on the photo to see how big / small the My Kitchen business is. It’s as wide as a doorway. They serve meals from a space that is smaller than a kitchen.
My Kitchen is one of many similar-sized stores I saw in Auckland, reflecting a trend I’ve not yet seen on this scale in Australian capital cities and shopping malls. It’s similar to some malls I have seen in China but there retail is quite different. What I saw in Auckland was these tiny shops mixed in with larger businesses – where a larger size space has been slices into a number of these micro spaces.
These trends are interesting but we need to be cautious as retail rends are like fashion – they take on quickly and fade even faster. The key for being a trend retailer is getting out ahead of the fall. That said, this apparent trend to micro tenancies could be here for a while if it means landlords can improve their return per square metre.
I’m not sure I can see a newsagency in a space of three square metres (or less) but I could see part of a newsagency.
Mark, very interesting. In our local paper today there is a group who are going to do just that in our city. There is a large vacant premise in the main street and they are calling for interest from micro businesses to set up shop, also office accomodation. They are going to share the rent and overheads and also have facilities for pop up shops. The trend is starting already.