While being in a shopping centre has its benefits, it also has its challenges – such as when an anchor tenant departs. The troubled Top Ryde shopping centre in Sydney is to lose Myer as reported recently. With Coles and Kmart taking the Myer space the traffic mix and frequency of visit will change.
Independent retailers in shopping centres are there for the ride in many respects, hoping the majors work and bring in a traffic mix off of which they can benefit.
I’m am still totally amazed Top Ryde was built the size it is, Maquarie Centre 10 minutes away, Rhodes 10 minutes away, Parramatta 20 mins, Chatswood 20 mins. Sydney needs more smaller village shopping centres with small individual businesses for everyday shopping, not these large centres that all look the same and struggle thru the week.
But that’s just my opinion, I still love the Sydney suburbia that I grew up in, not what it’s become today.