centre profile Coffs Central There’s a new ‘down-town’ at ; the main retail strip of the city has been transformed with the final piece of the jigsaw, the totally redeveloped Coffs Central, about to reach completion within the coming months. Owners Gowings have a long history in Australian retail and their approach to this redevelopment has been entirely ‘retail focused’. The new Coffs Central sits at the heart of the new ‘down-town’, providing a premium location for discerning retailers.

The stunning frontage to the main retail strip.

t first sight of it, you’d wonder components overflowing from the century at the corner of George and how Gowings ever got hold of sumptuous eating establishments Market Streets, part of ’s retail Coffs Central; slap bang in the flanking it. history with its genesis dating back to Amiddle of the major retail street; Coffs Harbour – according to CSIRO, 1868. Gowings moved out of retail in an obviously powerful, very sleek, the most liveable climate in Australia – 2001 investing across different asset architecturally striking retail nestled between a high mountain classes to take advantage of changing development. It’s a double story backdrop and literally dozens of unspoilt economic cycles. 70% of its core structure with an impressive glass beaches. It’s idyllic, surrounded by investments are in shopping centres frontage; floor to ceiling, state of the art luxurious vegetation and exotic farmland located in northern NSW including Port shopfronts on two levels; and on the – bananas abound, as do blueberries; Central in Port Macquarie. upper level, a huge balcony providing then there’s tourism, fishing, Coffs Central has undergone a a 50 metre long al-fresco dining manufacturing. Coffs Harbour has a massive redevelopment and is extension to the Food Court overlooking campus of Southern Cross University, scheduled for completion later this year. the main retail strip of the city. You several radio stations along with a To understand Coffs Central, to might wonder which major shopping public and a private hospital. Its appreciate Gowings’ transformation of centre player owns it? economy is sound, prosperous and it the centre, how they came to acquire It’s the heart of Coffs Harbour right continues to grow at an exceptional such a jewel, you need to look at the opposite City Square and with 170 metres rate; the population of the region is history. Alan Bond consolidated the site, of prime street frontage; it dominates approaching the 75,000 mark. which included what was formerly a the centre of Harbour Drive, the main And at its epicentre? Coffs Central. section of Castle St, the Walton’s store retail strip. It presents well from the It’s an investment by Gowings, owner and several other business properties, 9 metre wide, raised pavement, dotted of the former iconic department back in the early 1980s; you can see with a variety of al-fresco dining store which stood for the best part of a why. At that time Coffs Harbour was

14 Shopping Centre NEws COPYRIGHT© 2013 SHOPPING CENTRE NEWS – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED COPYRIGHT© 2013 SHOPPING CENTRE NEWS – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Shopping Centre NEws 15 already well established as a favourite by car parking didn’t really warrant creating an external, central community executives. John Gowing M.D. is really As a result, Coffs Central didn’t just with some 120 specialties. Gowings holiday destination for those to the aesthetic external design! Develop a focal point; a venue for the weekly food ‘hands on’, so is the team. Garth adopt a new name and a redesign, but didn’t try to compete; they saw Coffs south, Sydney included. As well, it had centre on a main street of a city or markets, for displays, exhibitions, Grundy is Gowings GM and Stephen it accepted its role and position as a Central as a different product altogether. all the credentials to be a fashionable large town however, and eighties’ performance art and the like. Byers runs Leasing and Development major contributor to the character and and smart location for retirees along shopping centre architecture was often But whatever the Council and Management. There’s no demarcation identity of Coffs Harbour’s retail heart. Coffs Central is ‘down-town’; with a younger sophisticated set looking a blight on the surrounds. property owners did, however much they here, everyone does anything that needs The Palms Centre had been it’s being transformed into for a ‘sea-change’. Its geographical There are countless instances and improved the architecture and ambience doing. Of course there are specialists – neglected; whilst the rest of the centre beauty coupled with the almost perfect the ‘Palms Shopping Centre’, prior to of the main street, the Palms Centre/ architects, shopfitters, designers, project of Coffs Harbour developed, the Palms a 7-days-a-week hub for the climate had made it a target for the Gowings acquisition, was a prime Coles supermarket blank wall on the managers et al – but everyone is in the Centre stood, as it always had been, Japanese players who at the time, had example. Coles had a full-line opposite side, and the overall general thick of it; they’re all at the sharp end an anachronistic monument to an community where the offerings decided Australia’s east coast was the supermarket with entry and checkouts presentation of the centre, detracted and they move as a single unit. architecturally deficient era. The of restaurants, alfresco cafes, perfect place for major property directly off the internal mall. Coffs from the efforts. Coles had already announced their opportunity was to integrate it with the investment. Harbour’s main retail strip featured its Palms Shopping Centre didn’t really departure prior to the Gowings modernised retail centre of the city, to specialty gourmet food, meeting It was acquired by Leda Holdings who rear wall – a breezeblock structure, fit into the AMP retail portfolio; Coles purchase; “We persuaded them to leave work together with the authorities and places, entertainment, activities, opened the ‘Palms Shopping Centre’ a blank wall dominating more than two had announced they would not renew early,” says John Gowing, “so we could other High Street retailers to create, in in 1986 with a Coles supermarket as thirds of the centre’s 170-odd metres the lease on its expiry in November get right into the redevelopment. It the words of Gowings, “a unique hyper- personal and business services, the ground floor anchor. In 1998 it of street frontage. 2013 and further, they had secured suited them and it suited us so they left.” local shopping centre which both boutique local designers, passed to the Commonwealth Bank who As time went by, in the almost a site for a new store a few hundred When you talk to John Gowing and appeals to 21st century shoppers and sold it to the Hunter Group in 2002; three decades since the centre was metres away. There were other options Garth Grundy, what comes across is that helps retailers to deal with the artisans, all form tight strands AMP purchased it in 2005. developed, Coffs Harbour’s main retail – Aldi perhaps, IGA maybe, or even a the original vision was the key and that challenges posed by online selling.” of community connection and But back in the mid-eighties, shopping strip changed both its character and remix of the space; AMP’s development vision was influenced by an expertise in And it’s here that the new Coffs centre development was about boxes; image to reflect the city’s new status pipeline was massive; did they need retail as well as retail property. John Central comes into its own. One could make the centre an essential huge rectangular monstrosities with as the centre of a sophisticated and more at Coffs Harbour? Not surprisingly, Gowing is the latest of four generations be forgiven for trying to determine how location and a regular external blank walls. There was a total prosperous coastal region. the Palms Centre was placed on the of the family that has steered the the centre, with a Coles about to depart, focus on the internal presentation – By 2011, Harbour Drive boasted market. company since 1868; a company that a small Big W with Best & Less on the rendezvous for Coffs Harbour the mall; people went ‘inside’, that was numerous smart shops, restaurants Enter Gowings! has prospered through 145 years of upper level, could compete with Park residents and visitors alike. where the action was; the box ‘externals’ and cafes. At its centre on the southern They do things differently here; it’s booms and busts, two world wars, major Beach Plaza, Coffs Harbour’s had little significance. It could be side, large steel and Chemfab refreshing; there’s a realism, a focus on depressions and market crashes. They’ve subregional, the largest retail centre Its new image, its presentation to the argued that in the case of a Greenfield structures provided shade and shelter the business issues; there are no layers seen it all and they’re very definitely between Newcastle and the Gold Coast surrounds can be described in a word; site, it didn’t matter too much; a large for walking, resting or al-fresco dining; of ownership or management; no fund ‘long-term’; short-term opportunism has boasting a full line Big W, Target, ‘stunning’. The blank wall is gone as is blank cube of a structure surrounded ‘City Square’ had been designed managers, asset managers or trust no place in this corporate culture. Woolworths and Supa IGA supermarkets, the rest of the outdated façade. In its

The Food Court with balcony overlooking the main retail strip. The space is fully equipped for sound and video transmitting – concerts, performers.

Highly decorative ceiling features of old timber beams framing back-lit images. Travelator to Food Court and level 2.

16 Shopping Centre NEws COPYRIGHT© 2013 SHOPPING CENTRE NEWS – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED COPYRIGHT© 2013 SHOPPING CENTRE NEWS – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Shopping Centre NEws 17 place, at pavement level, 13 new retail Campus, Coffs Harbour Education CBD; by embracing the rest of the retail and with Coffs Harbour’s new downtown in the surrounds of a small gourmet light antipasto lunch at ‘Pansabella’ – outlets with floor to ceiling, 4-metre high Campus and other high-level medical already there, as well as the Council’s image their question will not be; “which delicatessen; she has a love of flowers smoked Parma ham, a variety of truffled glass fronts. Around half of them are services and tertiary education facilities initiatives in uplifting the area, a real is the best centre in the region?” But and also stocked fresh cut blooms! cheeses and a Waldorf salad to die for! cafes and restaurants with alfresco in the city. It’s a segment now retail ‘down-town’ has emerged. rather, “do we want to be in a suburban It was a new business, a struggle in a K’Pane Artisan Bakery and Patisserie seating on the 9-metre wide landscaped approaching 20% of the working Coffs Central is the jewel of this subregional or would it suit us better to secondary location. The team convinced trade ‘inside’ the centre, ground floor; pavement. population and the recently approved critical mass; it’s striking. Kathmandu be ‘down town’?” Prior to Coffs Central her to move; together they designed a it’s not your ordinary pie shop – What Gowings have done here Police and Justice Precinct is expected has chosen the centre for their first the question may never have been much larger outlet in a key location scrumptious offerings of ‘Duck, Olive to increase it even further. Coffs Harbour store; it sits at the asked; from here on in, it certainly will fronting the street at a major entrance and Mushroom’; Beef and Red Wine; is to take a long-term stake in Sit at an alfresco dining establishment eastern extremity of the centre on street be and those retailers with a ‘down- to Coffs Central. They provided the Chicken and truffled mushrooms; the future of the city. They see or simply stroll along the main street level and will link up with the future town’ image will have no doubt where fitout, introduced her to a ‘business specialty breads; intricate sweet pastries and you’ll notice immediately how smart extension. Kathmandu classed the store they should be. mentor’ and got her started. and cakes; the list goes on; it’s another Coffs Harbour as the fastest the people are. It’s a stylish centre, chic on opening as a ‘C-rated’ outlet; it’s Kristi Knowles had spent several ‘one-off’ specialist outlet; it’s terrific and sophisticated and the Gowings team already shown its trading strength by Prior to trading in Coffs Central, growing community on the years in London during which time, she’d leasing. has retail planned, designed and leased moving up a notch to its now ‘B rating’; worked with Jamie Oliver and other major her best day in terms of coffee The ‘Dragon’ restaurant was a Coffs NSW , rapidly it accordingly. In so doing they’ve put sales have obviously exceeded food players on the London scene; she’d Harbour institution, the first Chinese their money where their mouth is and expectations. Kathmandu's success is travelled and worked in continental had been 150 cups in one day; restaurant in the city and operating overtaking Port Macquarie. already the strategy is paying dividends. not alone. Flight Centre recently moved Europe before returning to Sydney to in the first week she averaged continuously for over 25 years. The They also understand that the fastest Gowings understand retail and what in and have subsequently leased a work with some of the Australian original owner’s son, after a time spent segment of that growth is working they’ve done here is to change the Coffs second space for its other brand Escape culinary leaders. The Gowings team over 600! in Sydney and Melbourne returned to professionals, staffing the sustained Harbour retail dynamic. They control a Travel. Other national and/or chain found her in a shop a few blocks away It’s a smart outlet, as good as Coffs to settle down. About to purchase expansion of the Coffs Harbour Health critical mass of retail in the heart of the retailers will no doubt follow Kathmandu serving coffee and gourmet light meals anything in any capital city. SCN ate a a failed restaurant in the city, he was

Feature in ceiling of steam bowls in CreAsian.

18 Shopping Centre NEws COPYRIGHT© 2013 SHOPPING CENTRE NEWS – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED COPYRIGHT© 2013 SHOPPING CENTRE NEWS – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Shopping Centre NEws 19 Absolutely five star restrooms – a much talked out feature.

 Comment on this story at www. shoppingcentrenetwork.com/ blog/category/yoursay/31-4/ approached by the Gowings team. What followed is ‘CreAsian’, a small, very smart restaurant with an alfresco component on the main street. It’s clever with an interesting contemporary menu exploring not just one Asian cuisine but a combination of many to produce a fascinating variety of tastes. The Central Square Markets – every Thursday opposite the centre – are superb. It’s a total food market with the whole range of gourmet offerings. Coffs Central, Coffs Harbour Wandering through we came across a which migrate north each year specialist tea operation – Red Sparrow past the Gowings shopping Teas. What drew our attention at first was the quality and style of the centres at Port Macquarie, packaging – brilliant. Closer inspection Kempsey, Coffs Harbour and revealed a highly professional operation. Old news to the Coffs Central leasing Moonee Beach. team; we told them of our ‘discovery’ Ongoing marketing and management and they took us to a small, well-located of Coffs Central adopts the same shop just off the main mall in the final strategies. The Terrace Food Court, which has free Wi-Fi, also has a stage stages of fitout. Red Sparrow’s first Al fresco dining on the shop; terrific leasing. Keep your eye out and a sophisticated video/audio system for the name. 9 metre wide pavement with multiple screens throughout the centre to cater for promotions, events, There are numerous other at Coffs Central's front. workshops, meetings and other social examples where this owner/ and business gatherings. developer has backed their own The redevelopment of Coffs Central is a textbook example judgement to lease a space. of how a ‘market-led’ retail They’ve gone beyond the development should be exercise of simply looking conducted. Gowings’ long-term The Terrace Food Court for established retailers. culture gives them a view of At a time when retail is tough, at the retail planning exercise of the “Perhaps in the city,” he says, “there the development as a 5-year when the establishment is future Stage 4 expansion. are more avenues for expression. We project; after only 2 years into battening down the hatches, The strategy has developed as a saw a gap at Coffs Harbour; smart retail result of their understanding of the local had already arrived on the main street it, one can see the results. Gowings have gone beyond and community and that goes much further but with the old Palms Centre being so This project will be an found a bevy of retail talent that than a detailed examination of the dominant, it didn’t present as a critical outstanding commercial success demographics. mass. Coffs Central will emerge as simply needed a start. John Gowing: “What’s interesting is being as good as anything between because it contributes to the one of only two family owned traditional old timber bridges and give them new life. The talent is not confined to the café the perception of what people in the Sydney and and so it now community in which it sits. Suspended in the internal void and restaurant segment. Several country like. In most cases it’s false; compliments the rest; it fits in, it’s part brickworks left in NSW. The retail is smart, targeted, classy adjacent to the Food Court is an eight- fashion boutiques have been leased – there’s a perception they are somehow of it, in fact it’s the central piece.” Coffs Central’s new concourse floors and responsive; it works and retailers metre timber artwork by local sculptor again, ‘one-off’, very clever retail behind, perhaps a little slower and incorporate coloured aggregates from will prosper. A development application Gowings’ design and construction Stefan Bruggisser that features a operations with style and distinction. that’s nonsense. They might well have Grafton Quarries and crushed abalone has already been lodged for Stage 4 breaching humpback whale. The fresh food component awaits the different lifestyles, even different embraces the local community. shells to add subtle sparkle. of the redevelopment, which involves opening of a huge fruit and vegetable / values, but when it comes to retail, The feature sandstock bricks come Timberwork features massive recycled The Gowings Whale Trust an extension incorporating the former gourmet food operation, presently under to wining and dining, to services, they from the Lincoln Brickworks at Wingham, ironbark beams sourced by Kempsey Cunningham’s Hardware site to create fitout. The Food Court is over 90% like the same things; in fact, quite often a family owned company which has firm, Australian Architectural Hardwoods, provides funds for research a new masthead for the Coffs Harbour leased and already, the team is looking they’re more discerning.” been manufacturing bricks since 1852, who rescue Australian hardwoods from into these magnificent animals, CBD. SCN

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